


never stop forever

by starryjoonie



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Car Accidents, Character Turned Into Vampire, Crushes, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Human Jackson, Human Youngjae, Human/Vampire Relationship, Light Angst, M/M, Mention of torture, Murder, Non-Explicit Sex, Slow Burn, Stabbing, Sugar Daddy, Sugar Daddy Mark, Vampire Bambam, Vampire Jaebeom, Vampire Mark, Vampire Turning, Vampires, home invasion mention, human jinyoung, vampire Yugyeom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 37,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24239698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryjoonie/pseuds/starryjoonie
Summary: youngjae discovers that his new neighbors are vampires and finds they aren't as intimidating as vampires should be.in which yugyeom is a vampire with the personality of a golden retriever and youngjae can't stay away
Relationships: Choi Youngjae/Kim Yugyeom, Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung, Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang
Comments: 9
Kudos: 134





	1. part one

Youngjae throws his fruit-stained work shirt into the laundry after a late night at work. One of the new employees had a small mishap with the blender and Youngjae tried to be as understanding as possible, but they were understaffed as it is and Youngjae was the most senior employee there despite starting the job a month ago.

To top it off, his roommate Jackson is out of town for the weekend so Youngjae won’t have his personal sunshine in the apartment (although Jackson claims Youngjae is more of a sunshine-y person than he is). He resorts to working on his essay for class while watching documentaries that happen to be on at this time of day. Today’s is a documentary on the supernatural throughout history.

Of course, due to Youngjae’s tendency to procrastinate, he ends up paying more attention to the documentary than to his essay. He’s leaning back in his sofa with a large hoodie on, his laptop on his lap but his eyes glued lazily to the TV screen. 

Personally, he doesn’t believe that the supernatural exist. Why should they? Youngjae’s never had any kind of encounter with them. Most of the examples in the documentary could be fabricated. It just doesn’t make logical sense to him that something like a werewolf could exist and evolve, just like that, without anyone really knowing about it.

Nothing more than a myth, he reminds himself as he goes to get a cup of yogurt from the kitchen to eat while he tries to work on his essay again. But just as he’s peeling the container open, he hears a muffled screaming noise that startles him and makes him drop it, spraying a few drops of strawberry yogurt over his freshly mopped kitchen tiles.

But the frustration subsides rather quickly when he hears another scream that sounds strangled. He wonders what must be going on- perhaps a home invasion? 

His fight or flight response kicks in as he runs to shove his phone and keys into his pocket and leaves to track down the apartment in the direction of the screaming. To his surprise, it has been coming from the apartment at the end of the hall: the one that has been empty for a couple weeks, that was supposed to have new people moving in soon.

Youngjae tries the door handle, and it’s locked. Maybe it’s a domestic violence incident. With that thought in mind, he knocks rapidly. There’s a sudden silence inside the apartment, and loud footsteps.

The door swings open and Youngjae’s being dragged inside by the wrist. He doesn’t have the chance to scream before there is a hand covering his mouth. The door locks behind him as his eyes settle on a man with his jaws locked on another man’s neck, blood streaming down.

Youngjae screams into his captor’s palm and struggles, trying to break free, but the person holding him is damn strong.

The body falls to the floor as the man steps back, looking at Youngjae with wide eyes. Then he swears as he grabs a towel from nearby, wiping the blood off his face. “Fuck, it’s not what it looks like, I swear,” he says.

“He’s right,” says the person behind Youngjae. “It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you… I’m going to take my hand away. Please don’t scream.”

Despite Youngjae’s pounding heart and the urge to run, he remains calm as his mouth is freed. His first words are: “What the fuck.”

The man who just killed a person looks weakly at Youngjae. “This guy’s the serial killer that’s been terrorizing the city. He deserved it.”

“So you’re a cannibal?” Youngjae interrupts.

“No, no, I’m not a cannibal,” he says, taking a deep breath as though stressed. “I… you’re not going to believe me.”

The other, taller man who had dragged Youngjae in has put a great deal of space between himself and the newcomer. He has a shocked expression. “You’re going to tell him?”

“What else am I going to do?”

Youngjae interrupts them again. “My phone is in my pocket and I will call the police in five seconds if you do not tell me what is going on,” he threatens.

“I’m a vampire,” he says finally. “We both are.”

Youngjae laughs out loud. “What?”

“Really.” The man opens his mouth, showing long, sharpened fangs that Youngjae squints at in mild disbelief.

“We just moved in. What a great introduction, huh,” the other man says, laughing as he sits on his kitchen counter, swinging his legs. “That’s Jaebeom. He’s a cop. He uses his ability to kill people discreetly to satisfy his hunger and also to deal out justice.”

Youngjae frowns. “Is this some kind of elaborate roleplay thing or something?”

“Do you want one of us to bite you?” Jaebeom jokes. 

“I’ll pass.”

The one sitting on the counter leaps off, about to walk toward Youngjae, but Jaebeom stops him by swinging his hand out, giving him a silent shake of the head. Instead, Jaebeom approaches Youngjae, extending his wrist. “Feel my pulse.”

Tentatively, Youngjae presses his index finger to the inside of Jaebeom’s wrist. His skin is very cold, and very pale, now that he’s looking closer under the light. And Jaebeom’s right. There’s nothing there. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Youngjae murmurs in shock.

Jaebeom pulls his shirt away from his neck, revealing a very faint red mark resembling two dots. A bite mark. Youngjae’s jaw drops open uncontrollably. Suddenly, he feels faint.

“Believe me now?” Jaebeom asks. Youngjae just nods, his knees wobbling.

After a second, Youngjae musters the ability to speak. “So why are you telling me this? Aren’t you supposed to not let humans know you exist?”

Jaebeom nods. “Yeah. But you were about to call the police, so this is the better option.”

Youngjae glances over at the dead body. “You do this often?”

“Preferably not in our home, but yeah.”

“... You’re going to get blood on the carpet.”

Jaebeom knocks aside the blood-soaked rug. “We’ve got a tarp underneath. We think ahead.”

“So you just kill people who commit really bad crimes?”

“Yeah. Sometimes it’s the criminals, sometimes the other cops,” Jaebeom informs him.

The other man in the room seems to notice that Youngjae is a little shaken. “I’ll make you a welcome-to-the-neighborhood hot chocolate!” he announces enthusiastically, reaching into their cupboard, which appears very sparse.

“I lived here first,” Youngjae points out.

“Okay, then it’s a sorry-we-scared-you-by-killing-someone-in-front-of-you hot chocolate. We’ve had to do that before,” he says as he gets out the hot chocolate mix. “I’m Yugyeom, by the way.”

“I’m Youngjae. I live in 2B,” he replies, accepting Jaebeom’s invitation to sit at their table. He tries not to look at or smell the blood coming from the living room. But his heart rate is slowing down, which is nice. “So why’d you move in here?”

“My job transferred me here,” Jaebeom explains.

“Ah. So you’re not like, in hiding or anything because you’re a vampire.”

“Nope.”

Yugyeom brings him the mug of hot chocolate, setting it down in front of him before backing away again. Youngjae glances at Yugyeom, then Jaebeom. “You live together, huh?” Youngjae comments as he takes a sip. “Are you dating?”

“Uh, absolutely not,” Jaebeom deadpans. 

Yugyeom laughs. “Jaebeom was the one to turn me. I could never think of him like that.” He looks at Jaebeom teasingly. “Daddy.”

Jaebeom bristles. “I am not your father!”

Their bickering makes Youngjae laugh, and he almost forgets that he’s in an apartment with two vampires.

“Don’t worry, we’re not creepy and old,” Yugyeom assures Youngjae. “I got turned last year, and Jaebeom’s been a vampire for three years.”

Jaebeom nods, confirming this. “Yeah, Yugyeom’s young. He’s mostly stable with his bloodthirst but we want to play it safe. It scared me a little when you showed up while I was killing that guy, because I was afraid Yugyeom would lose his control with the smell of blood and also a live human with a pulse in the same room. But he did well.”

He smiles brightly, like a puppy that has been praised. “I’m getting better.”

“But he literally could kill you,” Jaebeom says bluntly.

Looking at Yugyeom, he seems like the least intimidating person ever. It’s hard to believe he has a thirst for blood.

“We also told you about the whole vampire thing because if you did call the police, I wouldn’t want you to get mixed up in vampire business. You wouldn’t stand a chance,” Jaebeom says.

“Vampire business?”

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, really, but some vampires react violently if they find out a human outed our kind,” he explains. “On that note, don’t try and tell anyone about us.”

Youngjae nods in immediate understanding. “I won’t,” he promises. 

Personally, he finds it hilarious how just thirty minutes prior he was watching a documentary without believing a single thing it showed. Now he must just buy into it. He makes a mental note to ask Jaebeom or Yugyeom to watch it with him to see how accurate it is.

Jaebeom stands up. “I’m going to get rid of the body,” he says, oh so casually, leaving Youngjae and Yugyeom alone at the table together.

“I won’t kill you. Probably,” he promises in a soft voice, his hands clasped together at the table. 

Youngjae raises an amused eyebrow. “Probably?” he echoes.

He shrugs. “Like Jaebeom said. I’m still working on my self-control. Jaebeom is really good at it, though. I’ve never seen him lose it and attack anyone. So as long as Jaebeom is here, you’re safe, Youngjae.”

“Good to know… you said he’s an older vampire?”

“Yes. How he was turned isn’t really my place to tell, but yeah, he’s been around longer than I have. Plus, I’m physically younger than him. I’ve got the body of a 22 year old. Jaebeom’s like 23 in his physical body. He’s actually pretty fit, now that I think about it. Maybe because he’s a cop.”

“How does he get away with being a cop and a vampire?” Youngjae asks incredulously. “Wouldn’t someone notice?”

“He’s managed to never get injured or eat anything in the presence of others, so he’s been lucky,” Yugyeom says with a smile. “If anything, being a vampire benefits him. He can’t get shot or stabbed and die.”

Youngjae chuckles. “That’s a good thing.”

“Yup. And he manages to sort out the corruption of the law enforcement system too. Jaebeom is a hell of a man. It’s a shame he’s not looking for anyone to date,” Yugyeom rambles.

“Do vampires often date?” he asks curiously. 

“Mostly with other vampires. Not really humans though. Since vampires don’t age,” he says, pointing out the obvious. “But Jaebeom’s never even dated another vampire. That’s okay. I have confidence he’ll find someone who can keep him in line.”

Youngjae lets out a giggle. “He’s got a while, doesn’t he?”

“That’s true.”

His phone buzzes on the table with a call from Jackson. Perfect timing. Youngjae glances at Yugyeom apologetically. “I’ve got to go take this… I’ll leave you both alone now. Thank you for the hot chocolate.”

“Of course! Maybe we can meet again on better terms, without murder being involved,” he responds brightly, walking to get the door for Youngjae. “I’ll tell Jaebeom you liked the hot chocolate.”

“Bye, Yugyeom,” he says, stepping out of the apartment as the vampire waves his hand, bidding him farewell.

As soon as that door closes, Youngjae lets out a very long breath. One could say he had a close encounter with death today. If his neighbors hadn’t been human-friendly, he’d very well be dead on the floor.

Going back to his apartment to restart his essay, he thinks about how odd it is that the two had no qualms about letting Youngjae into their residence and talking pleasantly with him. Shouldn’t vampires be hostile? Maybe they’re warming him up to be comfortable around them before they kill him. 

Youngjae shudders, opting not to think about that option. For now, he has two friendly new neighbors, regardless of their… species.

When Jackson returns the next day, he greets Youngjae with a tight, enveloping hug. “Miss me, Jae?” he asks warmly.

“Yes, I missed you a lot. This weekend has been weird,” he confesses into Jackson’s t-shirt.

“What happened?” 

Youngjae freezes, realizing he probably shouldn’t tell Jackson about what went down last night. “Oh, I just met the new neighbors that moved in across the hall… they’re interesting characters,” is all he says about it. “And I finished my essay, too.”

“We love productivity,” Jackson praises, setting his backpack aside. Jackson’s a very busy individual for a broke college student. Always travelling on whatever funds he has. Youngjae thinks it to be a little risky, in case of financial emergency, but he’s not Jackson’s mom. If this is what he really wants, Youngjae will support that.

“I actually went to a job interview yesterday, too, after visiting my mother,” Jackson goes on with his eyes lit up. “At Planet Fitness. They really liked me, I think.”

Youngjae laughs. “You fit the look really well.” He pokes Jackson in the stomach, right against his abs.

“I didn’t show them my abs, so we’ll see,” Jackson jokes. He’s definitely the fitness nerd of the two of them, even though Youngjae is pretty fit himself. Jackson’s always fawning over Youngjae’s arms when he’s drunk. It’s cute, really.

He’s got a big, huge platonic love for Jackson and he wouldn’t be roommates with anyone else.

The next time he encounters his eccentric neighbors is at the local grocery store. Youngjae is doing his weekly food run, squatting near the bottom of one of the shelves, when his name being called startles him out of his trance. He nearly falls over as he looks up to see Yugyeom running up to him, and Jaebeom with a shopping cart a couple feet away.

“Youngjae! Hi!”

“Hi, Yugyeom… what’s up?”

“Jaebeom is having some of his coworkers over for dinner,” Yugyeom informs him. “So we’re shopping for that.” He leans a little closer to Youngjae’s ear, speaking softly. “We can’t actually eat human food or else we’ll get sick so Jaebeom is planning on winging it.”

Youngjae lets out a huge laugh. “I feel bad for laughing, but that’s funny. You guys can’t eat anything?”

“Strictly a blood diet.”

He notices how disgruntled Jaebeom looks as he attempts to determine the difference between two different brands of spices. Youngjae’s heart softens a little as Jaebeom approaches. “No luck?” Youngjae asks sympathetically.

He shrugs. “I don’t fucking know what I’m doing.”

Youngjae thinks for a moment. “When’s the dinner?”

“Tonight. I’m basically screwed.”

“Wait, wait, it’s okay. I can help, if you want. I’m a decent cook, and I can also taste things, so that’s a plus, right?” he offers.

Jaebeom’s eyes widen. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal.”

“Maybe we needed a designated human this entire time,” Yugyeom says to Jaebeom as if Youngjae was not there. Youngjae laughs anyway. He supposes being a vampire has its downsides.

So that’s how he ends up in their apartment an hour later, humming in their kitchen as he stirs a pot of soup. Jaebeom watches in fascination as Youngjae delicately sips it with a spoon. Yugyeom doesn’t seem to be fazed. He must remember what it’s like to taste things- if Youngjae hadn’t forgotten, he’s only been a vampire for a year. 

“Does it taste good?” Yugyeom asks conversationally.

“Yup,” Youngjae confirms, nodding. “Although I am curious what it would taste like if you two were cooking it.”

Yugyeom snorts. “I don’t think you’d want to find out. Jaebeom’s tastebuds haven’t tasted human food in three years. It’d be a trainwreck.”

“Hey,” he shoots back in mild offense. “Not my fault.”

Youngjae can tell how much Yugyeom enjoys teasing Jaebeom. It’s adorable, honestly. The opposite of what he expected from two vampires.

Then again, he doesn’t know what he expected. Sparkling in the sunlight, Twilight vampires, or perhaps the much more realistic murderous, animalistic ones. Jaebeom and Yugyeom are neither. 

“So I assume you two don’t sparkle.”

Yugyeom wrinkles his nose. “No. Of course not. We’re just really pale under the sun. It doesn’t hurt us.”

“Good to know. So you aren’t necessarily night-owls.”

“We don’t sleep,” Jaebeom mentions. “So we’re neither night nor morning people. We’re always awake.”

Youngjae mutters under his breath, “God, I wish that were me.”

“It makes you lose your mind, sometimes,” Yugyeom disagrees, shaking his head. “I miss sleeping, honestly.”

“As a college student, I wish I had more time to do things,” he says as he adds more spices to the pot. “I’ve got too many classes right now and not enough time to complete all the work. Being a sleepless vampire would be nice at a time like this.”

“Unfortunately, being a vampire is irreversible so we can’t help you out,” Jaebeom says.

But Yugyeom’s expression brightens a little. “If you ever need help staying awake, you could ask me.” Youngjae blushes a bit at this, but Yugyeom continues obliviously. “I’ve got nothing better to do. I could keep you busy with your all-nighters or help you with your homework as long as you teach me first.” He smiles sheepishly. “I was in college too.”

“Thank you, that’s sweet,” Youngjae tells him, touched by his offer. “I’ll let you know if I need it.”

“Sometimes Jaebeom’s at the police station too long and I get bored,” he confesses. “I’m pretty much free whenever.”

Youngjae glances from Yugyeom to Jaebeom, who is sitting on the table drinking something out of an opaque bottle (Youngjae really doesn’t want to know what’s inside). “Do you guys have vampire friends?”

Jaebeom shrugs. “There’s a small group that I guess you could call our ‘friends.’ Vampires aren’t really social creatures by nature, but we do have our coven, if that’s what you would want to call it. They live in the area but they’re busy a lot, with their own things to do.”

“Oh! Like Mark-hyung. Mark was the one that turned Jaebeom, so they’re pretty close,” Yugyeom explains to Youngjae before launching into the discussion. “He’s really rich and he’s always flying around and travelling. Mark is what you think of when you think of hot, successful, expensive vampire man.”

“Nice image.”

Jaebeom rolls his eyes. “Yeah, Mark has a lot of fun. He visits often, so maybe you can stop by when he comes back next. He’s a character you’d like to meet.”

“Intriguing,” Youngjae muses. He takes off his apron and sets it on the back of the barstool. “I’m done, it’s all ready.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Yugyeom praises. 

“How are you two going to get by without eating anything in front of his coworkers?” Youngjae asks curiously. “Won’t they be watching?”

Jaebeom grins sleekly. “I’ll get away with it.” He slides off of his sitting position on the table. “You can stay and eat, too, if you want. You cooked everything, anyway. I can just tell them you’re Yugyeom’s friend hanging out for the night.”

“Oh! I’d love to,” Youngjae responds, pleasantly surprised. “I just have to let my roommate know.”

After calling Jackson, who seems happy that Youngjae is making friends with the neighbors, he goes back to the dining table as Jaebeom greets some of their newly arrived guests.

His coworkers are all very human. Their skin has the tell-tale pink blush of life that Jaebeom and Yugyeom lack. 

“This is my roommate Yugyeom and his friend Youngjae,” Jaebeom introduces them. “Youngjae kindly helped us cook today, since I was a little busy with the reports.”

The officers acknowledge Youngjae with kind smiles. He wonders if any of them have ever had a sneaking suspicion that Jaebeom might be less than human. If they have, he can’t tell.

The dinner is very casual, with everyone spread out throughout the apartment with their plates and bowls. Through this, Jaebeom manages to wander around talking to groups of people instead of eating. Yugyeom spends most of his time sitting across from Youngjae. Which is probably the closest he’s gotten to him yet.

“You said Jaebeom has been a vampire for three years?” Youngjae asks, noticing the ease with which he speaks to the humans.

Yugyeom nods in confirmation. “Yep, it’s been a while for him. I think he’s used to it, by now. I wasn’t there to see how he had adjusted at first, but he always tells me it wasn’t hard at all.”

“That’s surprising,” he remarks. “Considering there’s a lot of lifestyle changes that come with becoming a vampire, huh? Can’t sleep, can’t eat, you have to drink blood.”

“It’s really weird not having a pulse,” Yugyeom confesses, laughing a little. “But yeah. Jaebeom’s a very brave person and I admire him.”

Youngjae suddenly remembers they’re in public, talking about this with people in the house, but Yugyeom senses his sudden panic and calms him down with a smile. “It’s okay. They’re not listening. Jaebeom is talking to them; they’re occupied.”

He takes a small breath. “Do you two have any special powers? Like in Twilight they had super-speed or whatever.”

“Nah, nothing cool. Like sure, we’re a little stronger and faster than the average person since we don’t really breathe or anything, but I wouldn’t call it a power. I’d beat you in arm-wrestling in a heartbeat but I can’t go around lifting cars off the ground, you know?”

Youngjae nods, understanding immediately. “Mhm.”

“I was kind of expecting something cool like that when I was turned but Jaebeom immediately told me like it was. It was disappointing, not going to lie. Thought maybe I’d become a crazy hot vampire that attracted all the girls.”

“You’re cute,” Youngjae says, smiling. “I think that’s redeeming enough.”

“Thanks, but I was going for more of an oozing-sex-appeal kind of aura. Guess we can’t all have what we want,” he jokes as he traces his fingers in the grain of the wooden table absentmindedly. “But in any case, I guess I don’t have to worry about dying all the time like humans do.”

He blinks. “Sorry if this is a rude question, but how can a vampire die, then?”

“It’s not rude! I’d be curious too. Basically the only way we die is being beheaded, so yeah. It’s kind of hard to do that.”

“That’s good.”

“Yep, vampire death rates are very low,” Yugyeom says as if he is making some kind of health advertisement.

Youngjae’s eyes sparkle with amusement. He takes a bite of food before asking, “Are there any other supernatural creatures I should be aware of?”

To his surprise, Yugyeom shakes his head. “None that I know of. It’s just us.”

So not only do vampires exist, but they’re the only kind of existing creature other than humans. Lovely. At least Youngjae knows he won’t be encountering werewolves or fairies or anything else. Not that Yugyeom’s and Jaebeom’s entrance to his life has made it any harder.

At the end of the dinner, Youngjae is bid farewell by Jaebeom’s coworkers. When they’re all gone, Jaebeom slumps tiredly on the couch. “They kept asking me for the ingredients in the food,” he mumbles as Yugyeom strokes his hair away from his face. “I didn’t know what to say so I made things up.” He glances at Youngjae, gratefully. “Thanks for helping out, though, we really appreciate it.”

“No problem!”

Upon returning back to his apartment, Youngjae discovers that Jackson isn’t even home yet, probably because he’s beginning work at Planet Fitness. So he sits down with his essays and remembers what Yugyeom said about helping him out. He’ll have to take him up on that offer sometime.

It’s a calm evening with Jackson when he next hears from his supernatural neighbors. Youngjae is sitting on the couch beside Jackson, wearing sweatpants and his university hoodie watching TV when he gets a text message from Yugyeom, who had gotten his phone number in passing after the dinner at their apartment. “What’s up~ I heard loud noises coming from your place earlier lol.”

Youngjae rolls his eyes to himself. “That would be Jackson. He really gets overexcited when he’s watching Jeopardy,” he texts back, trying not to laugh because Jackson is sitting beside him with his eyes closed.

“Lmao is that what it was.”

“Yeah. He’s asleep now though.”

“Did you have any plans tonight??”

Youngjae smiles as he looks at his phone. “Nope!!”

“Cool~ you wanna come over? Jaebeom still has leftover human food from the dinner and he doesn’t know what else to do with it.”

In seconds, Youngjae is leaping off the couch, jumping over the sleeping Jackson, and practically running down the hallway to where Yugyeom awaits, surprised, at the door.

“Damn you’re fast,” he comments as he lets Youngjae in. Jaebeom is on the phone, standing in the kitchen, and Yugyeom grabs the plate of food sitting on the counter before guiding Youngjae to the couch in their living room.

“So I was thinking, what better way to acquaint you with supernatural life than to watch shitty documentaries?” Yugyeom says as he relaxes into a chair separate from the couch Youngjae sits on. He takes the remote to the TV and puts on one of the documentaries Youngjae had been watching earlier.

He lights up. “I’ve been meaning to ask you to watch one of these with me,” Youngjae says excitedly, clutching a nearby pillow. “You have to tell me how much of this is fake.”

Yugyeom cackles with his whole body. “A lot of it is. It’s all so sensational. Made for humans like you to watch it and be interested.”

“So you’re not that interesting?” Youngjae teases.

“Hey,” he exclaims in mock-offense, throwing a pillow at him. “I have a _life_.”

“You really don’t,” Jaebeom interjects as he walks by. “You are, quite literally, dead.”

Youngjae is amused by the banter between the two. Any other person would be depressed about being a vampire. After all, you’d be alive for eternity in a body that thinks you’re dead. You’ll be forever young as everyone around you ages and dies.

Youngjae is glad he is not a vampire.

Throughout the course of the documentary, Youngjae realizes how far away Yugyeom sits from him. He understands that Yugyeom is a vampire and all, and Youngjae is literally food for him, but as a human it’s a little unsettling. He really has no reason to trust Yugyeom, but at the same time, he does, and he wants to sit closer to him, like anyone else would.

“That’s fake,” Yugyeom says. “There are hardly any ‘vegetarian vampires.’ Animal blood is fucking bland.”

Youngjae looks over, wide-eyed. “So, human blood, then?”

He nods, a little sheepishly. “Don’t worry, we don’t go around killing randoms. We mostly get our blood supply from a vampire-run blood bank in the area, but it’s nice when Jaebeom kills the murderers and whatever. Fresh blood.”

“Do you ever do any of that? Killing?”

“No. Jaebeom won’t let me. I don’t want to, either. It’s too brutal for me,” he tells him, leaving it at that.

Jaebeom walks in the room at that moment, shoving his phone in his back pocket. “Mark will be back in two days,” he announces. “It’ll be his brief stop until he goes to Rome again.”

“Ooo Mark-hyung! Do you think he’ll bring anything weird back again!” Yugyeom asks excitedly.

“We’ll see,” Jaebeom says, chuckling. “He seems like that weird uncle, to you.”

“He is, though. You see him a couple times a year and brings gifts. That’s what uncles do,” he describes. 

There’s some untraceable look in Jaebeom’s eyes that flitters away in seconds. “Yeah. Well, maybe you’ll catch him, Youngjae, if you’re around. Mark’s always so intrigued by humans…” His last sentence seems like it holds a story, but Youngjae doesn’t press further.

He goes back to his apartment late that night, at about 2AM, thanks to the fact that Yugyeom never sleeps and Youngjae’s sleep schedule is screwed up anyway. The buzzing of his phone is the only thing that jerks him out of his reality in Yugyeom’s living room.

“Shit, my roommate is asking where I am,” Youngjae says in realization as he reads Jackson’s texts.

“You can leave if you need to,” he responds, shrugging. “I had fun. I’m always here, anyway.”

Youngjae gives him a smile as he stands up. “Thanks for having me over. I’ll see you later, Yugyeom.”

“Yup!” His voice is bright. Never something Youngjae would’ve associated with someone that is essentially dead.

Upon walking in the apartment, Youngjae is faced with Jackson who looks like a middle-aged mom awaiting a teenager after a long night. “So, Youngjae, what are you doing with the neighbors?”

His face reddens. He really has no way of explaining anything close to the truth when it comes to Jaebeom and Yugyeom. Their meeting, and everything about Youngjae’s relationship with them is based on the fact that they’re vampires, and Jackson _cannot_ know that. Youngjae stumbles over his words. “I… I was just-”

“Does a guy live there?” he asks proddingly, as he wiggles an eyebrow. Sometimes Youngjae despises Jackson’s need for the juicy details.

“Yes.”

“Youngjae, you can tell me if you’re hooking up with the neighbor, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Jackson says blatantly. “I’d just like to be filled in.”

“I’m not hooking up with him!” Youngjae protests in a squeaky voice. “We were just watching movies!”

Jackson gives him an inquisitive look. “You’re so friendly with this guy and yet I’ve never met him.”

“I mean, he’s our neighbor, and you’re always busy, so-”

“I want to meet him.”

Youngjae prevents himself from sighing. He can’t make this seem suspicious. “I’m sure you can, just, next time they’re free, we can hang out together. The neighbors are two guys our age.” 

“Ooh, you can date one and I’ll date the other and it’ll be the cheesy romance movie of our dreams,” Jackson says enthusiastically. “Love Next Door would be what it’s called. Or something like that.”

“Whatever you say, Jackson.” Youngjae hopes that he doesn’t violate Jaebeom’s and Yugyeom’s trust by accident. Keeping their identity secret must be important for them.

Mark’s visitation exceeds Youngjae’s expectations. 

When the man walks in the room, it’s like a silence has fallen as everyone looks at him in awe. Yugyeom did not lie when he said Mark is handsome. His cheekbones and his eyebrows… Youngjae’s attention drifts to his outfit, which looks very trendy and expensive. Probably from one of the biggest clothing brands.

“Hey Mark,” Jaebeom greets him with a hug. 

Mark nods, hugging the enthusiastic Yugyeom next. “How are you two doing here?”

“Quite well, actually. We’ve met a friendly neighbor.” Jaebeom gestures to Youngjae, who had been standing awkwardly to the side.

Mark’s gaze sweeps over him. “Ah, a human. Cute.” He extends his hand to Youngjae, and he takes it, not failing to notice how cold it is. “I’m Mark Tuan. You may know my family name from one of the biggest businesses in the world.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he answers. Mark’s aura is intimidating.

As Mark turns away, he looks between the other two vampires in the room. “I hope you don’t make it a habit of collecting humans, with how young Yugyeom is. Accidents happen, you know.”

Jaebeom tenses up at that, but nods, evidently wanting to drop the topic quickly. “So how has your traveling been going?”

Mark takes the bait with this, and they all listen to the man’s stories of his journey abroad. For a vampire, he lives a very interesting and excited life.

“How long have you been a vampire?” Youngjae asks curiously. “You seem like you’ve been doing this a while.”

“Four years. Not too long, actually.” Mark taps the table as he eyes Youngjae. “I actually went willingly into the vampire life.”

He blinks. “What?”

Mark nods, smirking. “Yeah, I had the offer and I agreed to it. Four years ago, my family’s corporation was at its peak in terms of profit and popularity. My father had died two years previously and it was just recovering from the incident. My mother had no interest in becoming involved, so she stayed out of it while I built the corporation up. And just my luck, I fell ill with a fatal virus. Of course, my family needed the money to stay on top of things and they knew how valuable I was to the reputation of the company. So they pulled some strings and had me turned on my deathbed. Now, here I am.” 

Youngjae raises an eyebrow. “Wow.”

“Yep.”

“Was it hard adjusting to being a vampire?”

“Of course. It was very hard, although I think I had it easier than others because I wasn’t exactly forced into it like others were. I’ve always had decent self-control. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to turn Jaebeom when I was only a year-old vampire.” Mark glances sideways at Jaebeom. “Have you told the story?”

He hesitates, but agrees, turning toward Youngjae. “Three years ago was when I was turned, if you recall. I still lived with my parents in the suburbs and everything. I was in college. It was the middle of the night on a Wednesday when a man broke into my house with a weapon. It was a home invasion, and my parents’ bedroom was on the first floor of the house while mine was on the second.” Jaebeom struggles to regain the clarity in his voice for a second. “The man had a knife. He had fatally stabbed both my parents before coming upstairs to me. I’d been stabbed too, and I was bleeding out in the hallway when Mark showed up. He had lived next door to me at the time, and had heard the screaming. He took pity on me and turned me.”

“I’m sorry,” Youngjae says quietly, not knowing what else to say.

Mark gives Jaebeom a big pat on the back. “So then I raised him myself. Never turned anyone else. He’s my only child.” He looks back at Youngjae. “Being turned is a big thing, so it’s definitely not something we do a lot.”

“I see.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t get too involved in anything vampire-related. For your own sake,” Mark advises with a serious expression. “It’s dangerous. I know that’s kind of obvious, but sometimes you have to emphasize it for people.”

Youngjae nods. “I get what you’re saying.”

Mark’s brief visit leaves Youngjae with many questions. Most of all, he wonders about Yugyeom. After hearing Jaebeom’s story, he wonders how Yugyeom came to be turned. The way they speak of turning a person makes it seem like the circumstances have to be dire. 

He wonders what kind of pain Yugyeom holds in his heart.

Jackson walks over to the table by the window with an extra large strawberry frappucino in hand and a content expression. Youngjae eyes his extravagant drink. “I thought you weren’t spending as much on Starbucks anymore,” he comments.

He shrugs, still smiling as he looks at his phone. “It’s fine.”

His words are strange, especially since Youngjae knows him to be a man of sticking to his goals. “Really? Weren’t you getting that Planet Fitness job because you’re broke?”

“Yeah. I got a little extra money.”

“Whatever you say.”

He and Jackson are spending their morning in a Starbucks, as Jackson had invited Jaebeom and Yugyeom out as a neighbor-date. Of course, the plan is flawed, since Youngjae knows neither of them can _eat_ anything. He feels a little guilty.

The two enter the room in a scene that looks straight out of Twilight. Yugyeom enters first, his pale skin lit brightly as he scans the room like a puppy. Jaebeom comes in behind him with slicked back hair and a tenser expression. Youngjae waves them over, smiling.

“Jackson, this is Yugyeom and Jaebeom, our neighbors,” Youngjae introduces warmly as he scoots his chair over for the newcomers to sit.

Jackson looks up from his phone, wide-eyed, staring a little too long at the both of them. “Wow. You two are pretty,” he remarks. What an honest man.

“Anyway, this is Jackson, my roommate. He’s a college student and he works at Planet Fitness,” he informs them with a supportive smile. “He’s my best friend.”

Jaebeom and Yugyeom give Jackson twin smiles. Youngjae wishes they weren’t so synchronized, as it’s kind of weird, but Jackson is still receptive nonetheless.

“I’ve heard Youngjae has been hanging out with you all a lot,” Jackson says conversationally, quirking an eyebrow.

“He’s fun,” Yugyeom offers.

Jackson gives him a look, and Youngjae finds himself blushing. Not even two minutes and the conversation is already going downhill. 

“Are you both single?” is Jackson’s next question, to which the both of them nod.

“Married to my job,” Jaebeom explains. “I’m a police officer.”

“Mmm, interesting. What about you?” he asks Yugyeom, as if quizzing them.

“I work at Taco Bell.”

Both Youngjae and Jaebeom give vaguely alarmed looks at that statement, since both of them know he’s full of shit. Jackson, on the other hand, has no idea.

“Oh, you should get me free tacos.”

“Says you and your ‘biggest size expensive blended coffee drink,’” Youngjae shoots back.

“There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself!” Jackson protests.

Yugyeom is entertained by what he has created. “I’ll get fired if I give you anything for free. You’ll have to earn my trust if you’re going to make me risk my employment.”

“You’re on,” Jackson says, decisive. Youngjae is overcome by the desire to throw his head against the wall, but he has got to admit Yugyeom’s antics are endearing.

“I think you’re too motivated by free food, Jackson,” Youngjae points out.

He shakes his head as he reaches his hands out to put his over Yugyeom’s, who startles, but Jackson is too oblivious to notice that his hands are cold. “No, me and Yugyeom are going to be best friends.” Yugyeom recovers quickly, giving him a huge grin.

Jaebeom chuckles. “I’m glad there’s a lot of chemistry here.”

“Of fucking course, this’ll be our hit young adult movie,” Jackson says in between sips of his drink. “I’ve already got it planned out.”

Youngjae sighs, but it’s a sigh of affection. “Please understand that Jackson and I haven’t gotten much social interaction lately.”

“Speak for yourself.”

The impromptu Starbucks meetup got the four of them on the right foot. Simultaneously, Youngjae learned how oblivious Jackson is this early in the morning. Neither of the vampires actually ate anything and he didn’t question it at all. Jackson’s actually a very observant person, so it’s surprising to Youngjae, but he’s grateful for it.

So the first time Yugyeom comes to the apartment, Jackson doesn’t question it. It’s the night before a huge test and Youngjae invited him over so he can have someone keep him awake. They’re sitting on Youngjae’s bed together with a lamp on, his papers scattered over the bedsheets.

“This looks complicated,” Yugyeom observes as he glances over everything. He’s sitting cross-legged and he’s wearing a hoodie that manages to be huge on him (even though he’s tall himself). 

“Yeah, it’s chemistry.” Youngjae sighs out of apprehension. He doesn’t want to start studying, really. He just wants to avoid it and live peacefully as he talks with Yugyeom.

The vampire blanks out. “I didn’t have chemistry class. Wish I could help.”

“It’s okay. I just need company, you know?” He pushes his hair out of his face. “To make sure I don’t lose my mind.”

“That’s my job,” he says gleefully. He takes something out of the pocket of his hoodie and places it in Youngjae’s hands. “Jaebeom told me a lot of humans like dark chocolate… it’s good for the heart or whatever… I forgot all about it, but-”

“Thank you,” Youngjae interrupts, smiling. “I love dark chocolate.” He nearly grips it so hard it begins to melt as he looks at Yugyeom, but he quickly sets it aside. “Have you really forgotten what it’s like to taste things?”

He nods wistfully. “Yeah. You would think that sort of thing is something you’d remember in a year, but when all you drink is blood it kind of drowns everything out. I really miss it, the taste of sweet things… Mark used to tell me about how he’d kiss humans and he could taste the faint flavors on their lips.”

His words twist in such a hopeful way, with such longing to have the sensation back. Youngjae’s mind flickers with the idea of kissing Yugyeom with the chocolate on his lips-

No.

“And that wouldn’t get you sick?” Youngjae asks to distract himself as he continues sorting out his notes.

“Not in such a small amount. Personally, I suspect that’s the reason Mark prefers having flings with humans,” Yugyeom informs him in a gossipy tone.

Youngjae giggles. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. He preaches about not messing around with humans because it could get complicated, but he does it all the time,” he confides. “I don’t blame him at all, he can do what he wants, but the difference between what he says and what he does is so funny.”

Youngjae looks up from his diagram of an atom. “Does Mark give you a lot of advice?”

“Some advice, yeah. Most of it comes from Jaebeom, though… Jaebeom’s always been protective of me.” He blinks, his fingers playing with one of Youngjae’s pens. “You… you never asked about how I turned. You’re curious, aren’t you… just too polite, huh?”

He perks up, sensing how serious the conversation has suddenly gotten. Truth be told, he’s been dying to know, but he hadn’t wanted to pry the information from him.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to talk about it,” Youngjae assures him. 

“It’s okay. I think you would want to know… you know Mark’s and Jaebeom’s stories, after all.” Yugyeom clears his throat. “Jaebeom turned me when he was a two year old vampire. At this point, he had already become a police officer and he was starting to become independent of Mark, because Mark had been his vampire mentor, if you want to call it that. Like Jaebeom is to me now, you know?”

He nods.

“I was home from college that weekend. It was a late night, and I had just finished studying with a few friends in the city. I was walking home, and these three large men came out of nowhere and shoved me into their car. They kidnapped me, without anyone seeing. I tried calling 911, didn’t work. They took me to this empty house in the middle of nowhere and tied me to a chair. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink much, and… they tortured me. They did a lot of painful things… I don’t remember them anymore. My mind has blocked it out.”

Youngjae’s speechless.

“It lasted a couple of days. The time dragged on and it had seemed like weeks. In the last couple days, the torture was too unbearable for my body and I was starving. I was inches from death when Jaebeom showed up. He was the only cop on duty and he had finally tracked one of the men’s phone numbers to the location- they had been doing the kidnapping thing for ages and were notorious with the police. He comes in when they’re not there and he sees me dying and Jaebeom told me that his heart shattered to see such a young person dying like that.” He laughs. “I was only twenty-two, so not that young, but Jaebeom is a softie. He turned me then, telling me later that he wanted to give me another chance. Then, when the men returned to the house, he killed all three of them and that was the first taste I got of human blood.” He looks up at Youngjae, a bit bashfully. “Yeah. That’s the story.”

“You never deserved that to happen to you,” Youngjae says in his heartache. “I’m sorry that those memories are something you have to live with, but… I’m glad you’re here now. Even if you’re not living by technicality.”

“Thank you,” he replies warmly. “I think that Jaebeom made a good choice. Sometimes I think that it might’ve been easier to die than to live forever in a cold body like this, but then there’s moments like this where I’m just… living! Like normal.” He gives Youngjae a bright grin. “So I wouldn’t say it’s too bad.”

“Your positivity is cute,” Youngjae praises teasingly. “It’s a nice refresher from all those angsty movies.”

“The movies always have it wrong!” Yugyeom’s brightness doesn’t fade as he rants again about how inaccurate vampire movies are. It’s pleasant to listen to as Youngjae types up an otherwise boring and monotonous lab report.

In the middle of his speaking, Youngjae glances up at Yugyeom over his laptop screen. “You don’t have to sit so far away from me, you know. You can come closer.”

Wide-eyed, he starts, “But-”

“I trust you. It’s okay,” Youngjae answers reassuringly. He takes Yugyeom’s hand and pulls him over so that they’re sitting side by side against Youngjae’s headboard. 

Yugyeom reacts a little stiffly at first, but in seconds, his chin has melted down to sit on Youngjae’s shoulder as he gazes at the laptop screen. “Whatcha working on now?”

“The conclusion of the lab report.”

“You should take a break~”

Youngjae gives him a look. “I don’t-”

“Draw something on Paint for me,” Yugyeom requests with a pout on his face.

“Paint?” Youngjae laughs. “What kind of drawing?”

“Your favorite animal.” He runs his fingers over the trackpad and minimizes the Microsoft Word window, pulling up paint. “Go.”

Youngjae laughs uncontrollably. “I am not an artist, Kim Yugyeom.” 

“It’ll relax your brain from all those numbers and atoms,” Yugyeom whines. “Draw me something please~”

“Okay, okay.” He uses the brush tool in brown to paint what looks like a potato at first.

“It’s a masterpiece.”

“Shut up,” Youngjae says, laughing as he draws in the according legs and face.

Yugyeom pauses. “Aw, wait, is it an otter? That’s adorable.”

When he’s finished praising Youngjae’s drawing, Yugyeom offers to go get him a drink from the kitchen. 

He returns clutching a cup of lemonade. “Jackson’s in the living room and asked me about the free tacos again… I don’t know how to break to him that I don’t actually work at Taco Bell.”

“You dug yourself that hole.” He accepts the cup carefully. “Thank you… I hate making you stay here, doing things for me-”

“I’m having fun,” Yugyeom protests. “You’re really funny when you’re all tired. It’s cute.”

Youngjae fights off the blush. He never knew that the slightly sleepy side of him could be viewed as “cute,” but he’ll take what he can get.

Yugyeom, as promised, stays up until 2AM with him till the project is finished (“What else would I do, anyway? I don’t need to sleep.”). Youngjae hates to see him go, despite how heavy his eyelids are.  
He decides that Yugyeom is a very pleasant addition to his life.

Youngjae comes home from work one day to a large cardboard box sitting just inside the apartment and he nearly trips over it. Jackson, meanwhile, is sitting on the sofa sipping some kind of carbonated beverage, all nonchalant.

“What’s this?” Youngjae asks warily.

“Um, a package? Duh.”

He frowns. “What’s inside?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, really, they just mailed a box of air to us?” Youngjae says sarcastically as he pulls back one of the already opened flaps. Inside the box, amongst the bubble wrap, is what looks like the parts to a gaming chair.

“Jackson!” Youngjae exclaims. “You’re impulse buying now?”

He’s instantly defensive. “It wasn’t an impulse! I did think about it!”

“This chair is probably so expensive! I have no fucking idea how you can afford this with how much you’re already spending, taking into account the fact that you work at Planet Fitness,” Youngjae rambles, shocked. “Debt isn’t good, Jackson.”

Jackson looks so guilty all of a sudden, and that is when he knows something is up. “Listen, I…”

“Jackson.”

“I may have gotten a sugar daddy.”

Youngjae chokes on his own saliva. He can’t believe the words coming out of Jackson’s mouth. “ _A sugar daddy?_ ”

“Yes! We met online and it all kind of worked out, you know?”

He calms down after a second. There are worse situations than Jackson acquiring a sugar daddy. Good for him, in fact. “Well, at least you aren’t building up credit card debt.”

Jackson looks elated at how quickly Youngjae gets used to the idea. “He’s really hot and he’s got a lot of money. We text and FaceTime sometimes and he really is such an attractive person,” he gushes. “He’s actually a part of one of the biggest corporations in Korea.”

“Oh, really? That’s nice,” Youngjae says as he takes off his shoes.

“God, he’s so hot. I wasn’t going to tell you, but fuck, we’re best friends, so I wasn’t going to keep it a secret any longer.”

“Good, well now it’s off your chest.” Youngjae gives him a tired smile. “Have you ever met him?”

Jackson shakes his head, a little disappointed. “No, he travels a lot, so he’s busy often. He promised we can meet the next time he’s back in the country.”

Strangely, Youngjae gets a weird feeling in his chest that he can’t shake off. He ignores it, for peace of mind. “That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah. He’s not much older than me, actually.”

“What’s his name?”

“Mark.”

Youngjae freezes. “Mark who?”

“Mark Tuan… why?”

He really can’t believe how the two different sections of his life are intersecting. “I’ve met him,” he admits weakly. He’s instantly thinking of the implications- does Jackson know Mark is a vampire?

“... No way, how?!”

“He’s friends with the neighbors!”

Jackson’s just wide-eyed. “Wow, small world I guess… is he hot in person?”

“Yes, Jackson, he’s very handsome,” Youngjae says to appease him. He supposes that Jackson, in fact, doesn’t know about Mark’s true state. It wouldn’t be unrealistic to say that, considering Jackson has never seen him before. 

Youngjae texts Yugyeom with the news, who relays it to Jaebeom. 

“Jaebeom’s going to call Mark and make sure that Mark tells him about the whole vampire thing… I can’t believe your roommate is involved with him,” Yugyeom texts.

“Me neither. Today feels like a fever dream.”

And so Youngjae is exposed to the extent of Jackson’s many rather expensive purchases now that the man has no secrets, knowing all this is paid for by the vampire he met several days prior.

It’s a Saturday night when Youngjae is back in the Vampire Apartment again. It’s just him and Yugyeom this time, as Jaebeom is working and Yugyeom got bored really quickly. 

Yugyeom leads him into a room in the hallway. “This is my bedroom. Considering I don’t really sleep, I don’t do much with it other than getting privacy from Jaebeom.”

The room has all the basic bedroom furniture, including a bed with neatly made sheets (Youngjae comes to the conclusion that it’s just for show- if someone didn’t have a bed in their bedroom that’d be weird). There’s also a desk in the corner with a computer, and a collage of images hung on the wall behind it. 

“I don’t mean to sound intrusive, but you don’t have a job, right?” Youngjae says as he looks at the pictures on the wall. “Jaebeom has one. Why don’t you?”

“Jaebeom has been trying to get me to find one. I don’t know if I trust myself for that yet,” he admits quietly. “... Honestly, my entire vampire life thus far has been uneventful. I really don’t have that many hobbies and Jaebeom is always trying to get me to do new things, but sometimes I feel like trying those new things will separate me from my human life even more. I don’t know if that makes sense, but.”

Youngjae squeezes his shoulder. “I understand. It’s okay.” He swiftly changes the subject when he notices some of the board games sitting on Yugyeom’s shelf. “Oh! We should play Monopoly.”

“If you’re ready to lose,” Yugyeom teases. 

Five minutes later, the game is in full swing on Yugyeom’s floor and Youngjae is already stressed because Yugyeom has two of the railroads. 

Yugyeom’s voice has a real talent of relaxing Youngjae, he finds. Just hearing it melts away any irritation he could ever have. Yugyeom is truly like a golden retriever, in human form. Comforting and playful and adorable.

Truthfully, he loves spending time like this, with Yugyeom- he can’t forget when his heart jumped out of his chest when Yugyeom came to his door and asked if he wanted to come over. He could tell Jackson was making fun of him, on the inside. 

“I want Boardwalk,” Youngjae sings, shaking Yugyeom’s knee as he pouts. “Please? I have nothing else that’s worth anything, it won’t hurt you at all, I promise.”

He might be imagining the fond look in Yugyeom’s eyes, but he hopes that it is there. The laughter between the two of them is stirring the want in Youngjae to lean closer and kiss him on his smiley cheek… but he knows how Yugyeom gets about contact, so he doesn’t. 

“Fine. But-” Yugyeom’s phone starts ringing, interrupting him. He puts the phone to his ear quickly. “Jaebeom, what-” He cuts himself off, wide-eyed, and in seconds, he’s nodding and hanging up the phone.

“What’s wrong?” Youngjae asks, bewildered.

“Someone got hit by a car down the street,” he explains, grabbing Youngjae’s wrist and pulling him to his feet. “Jaebeom witnessed the hit and run and the guy’s bleeding out badly.”

His heart starts pounding loudly as he follows Yugyeom out of the apartment and out into the street. Yugyeom can run surprisingly fast, he discovers as he struggles to keep up. But soon they turn a corner and Jaebeom’s car is visible with the headlights on, casting light into the dark.

Jaebeom is crouched over someone on the curb. 

When they get closer, Youngjae notices that the victim is a young man. His white shirt is soaked through with the dark red blood and his face is twisted with pain. Panicked, Youngjae glances over his shoulder to see Yugyeom several feet away, looking like he’s going to cry.

“Don’t sit up,” Jaebeom says firmly to the man as he starts tying clothes around the gash in his stomach. 

“Do you want me to call 911?” Youngjae asks in a trembling voice.

Jaebeom’s expression is tense. “No. We can’t. The person who hit him was a vampire intending to get his next drink… for this guy’s sake, we can’t get anyone involved or he’d be in danger.”  
The man whose head is in Jaebeom’s lap is making very pained noises, and breathing heavily. It doesn’t sound good at all.

“Jaebeom!” Yugyeom cries.

He continues to brush the man’s hair away from his face and sweating forehead with the most stressed expression Youngjae has ever seen. 

“Jaebeom, turn him, please!” Yugyeom sobs, making Jaebeom jerk his head up.

“I’m not turning him!” he hisses.

“He’s _dying_!”

Jaebeom shakes his head aggressively. “He’s going to live,” he says with conviction, despite the growing pool of blood beneath the man’s body. “I just- I just need-”

“We should call an ambulance,” Youngjae suggests, words flying out of his mouth at a thousand times per minute. “If you’re concerned about his safety, _you_ can take him back from the hospital when he’s recovered to watch over him.”

He considers it for a second, glancing over the boy dying in his arms, and nods. “Okay.”

Youngjae instantly grabs his phone out of his pocket and dials the emergency number. He gives the operator all the necessary information, but he finds it hard to stay calm with Yugyeom sobbing and Jaebeom desperately trying to comfort the boy.

The ambulance arrives surprisingly quickly, and Youngjae is relieved. The boy is still alive as the paramedics take him in, the three of them watching. They know he could very well die enroute to the hospital, but at least he’s this far.

They walk back to the apartment in silence. 

“Why didn’t you turn him, Jaebeom?” Yugyeom asks in a quiet voice.

Jaebeom shakes his head. “Because I didn’t think it was an action that needed to be taken.”

“Why turn me and not him? He’s young, too! He was dying too! If Youngjae hadn’t convinced you to call an ambulance, you would’ve let him bleed out in your arms!” Yugyeom yells, frustrated. 

He looks a little shocked at how loud Yugyeom’s voice had gotten. “I- Yugyeom, you were a special case. I don’t want to go around turning everyone that’s injured. Being a vampire isn’t for everyone and I want to subject very few people to that as possible.”

Yugyeom doesn’t seem satisfied with that answer. He doesn’t reply to Jaebeom, and the rest of the walk is taken in complete silence.

Youngjae comes home with a heavy heart, wondering how the boy must be doing, and if he lived.

Days later, Youngjae gets the call from Yugyeom that the boy has been released from the hospital and he is now staying with Jaebeom, under Jaebeom’s orders (apparently the boy did not feel threatened at all by Jaebeom but he agreed nonetheless after the whole vampire explanation).

“He’s staying in Jaebeom’s room. He’s in a stable condition but he’s still healing,” Yugyeom explains.

Jaebeom fills a cup of water at the sink. “His name is Park Jinyoung. He told me he’s a college student. He’s also still doubtful that either of us are vampires, but I’m sure he’ll be convinced sooner or later,” he says, shrugging.

Youngjae follows Jaebeom and Yugyeom into the room, where the boy is laying in bed with his phone in his hand. 

“Are you hungry?” Jaebeom asks him softly as he brings the cup of water to his bedside. 

“No, the hospital already fed me. Besides, you wouldn’t have any human food, anyway, because you’re a ‘vampire,’ right?” Jinyoung teases. His injuries seemed to have not affected his personality at all.  
Jaebeom chuckles. “Actually, Youngjae here is over quite often so we do have some food in the house.”

Jinyoung glances over at Youngjae with a raised eyebrow. “Are you under some sort of protection, too?”

“No, I’m their neighbor,” he explains. “No protection needed. Just hanging out.”

“Ah. You’re lucky then, that you weren’t hit by some bloodthirsty creature and then made to stay in an apartment of some strangers who also drink blood.” Jinyoung looks at Jaebeom. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“If I was going to drink your blood, I would’ve done it while you were bleeding out in my arms,” Jaebeom says dryly. “Wouldn’t have been hard.”

Jinyoung just laughs, but stops after a second when it becomes painful. Jaebeom puts his hand on his shoulder. “Shh, don’t strain yourself. Be careful.”

Yugyeom looks more than amused. He leads Youngjae out of the room, speaking to him quietly so Jaebeom can’t hear. “Jinyoung’s been here for two seconds and he’s already uprooted Jaebeom’s life. He’s taking time off work to look after him and Jinyoung has so much of a personality that it’s entertaining to see the two interacting.”

“Was he like this with you?” Youngjae asks. “After he turned you?”

“He was much more doting with me. I don’t know, the way he interacts with Jinyoung is different.” Yugyeom just shrugs. “It’s a pleasant little turn of events, though. Makes my life more interesting. Jaebeom’s put me in charge of preparing human meals for him. He claims I’d be better at it than he is since I’m younger.”

Youngjae laughs warmly. “I wish you luck with that.”

“Yeah, I’m excited. Plus! Mark is coming back again tomorrow! He’ll be staying a little longer, and I’m guessing he’ll be meeting Jackson.” He wriggles an eyebrow. “And in the end, I’ll finally be able to come clean about not working at Taco Bell.”

“That’s a plus,” he agrees in amusement. 

Jaebeom enters the room with a tiny smile. “Try to be quiet, okay? I’ve convinced him to take a short nap. The little shit’s been awake for almost twenty hours now.”

“I can’t blame him. I’d be nervous if I were a human in a house of vampires for the first time,” Yugyeom points out. “Didn’t you say he wasn’t convinced, though?”

He chuckles. “I drank a cup of blood in front of him. He didn’t question anything after that.” He shakes his head in mild wonderment. “He’s really something else.”

Youngjae asks, then, “Did you tell him that you almost turned him?”

“No. He really doesn’t need to know that. I don’t think he’d be happy to know it,” Jaebeom admits. He sighs. “I hope he adjusts well to this. I don’t know how long I want to keep him here and when he’d be safe… he’s in college but he also doesn’t really have an urgency to leave. I suspect he doesn’t have any close family or anything. No one visited him at the hospital.”

“Oh…” 

“Yeah. I want to ask him about it later, but I don’t want to pry. For now, I’m just going to give him a little space.” Jaebeom turns to Yugyeom and meets his eyes. “I’m going out, I’ll be back in about an hour. If he wakes up, make sure he doesn’t try and walk around too much.”

Yugyeom’s eyes brighten. “Yeah, I’ll babysit. Have fun daddy.”

“Don’t call me that.” He grabs his jacket off a chair and leaves as quickly as possible.

Yugyeom glances at Youngjae. “We got ice cream. Want some?”

“Sure,” he responds, wide-eyed as he follows Yugyeom to the kitchen. “Did you get it for Jinyoung or for me?”

“Mm, maybe for you, maybe not,” he teases as he gets the container out of the freezer (Youngjae can’t imagine they use that freezer often). “You might have some competition for the title of my favorite human.”

Youngjae’s cheeks flush at being indirectly called Yugyeom’s favorite. It’s a nice feeling, even though he’s just joking around. He thinks Yugyeom notices, too, because he chuckles, and it’s even more embarrassing. 

But he ends up next to Yugyeom on the couch with the bowl of ice cream in his lap and his head on his shoulder. The vampire has been warming up to touching him lately. It’s refreshing. Even though there’s no real heat coming from his body, there still is, in a sense. He likes being next to him. 

Yugyeom babbles on about the movie playing on the television while Youngjae listens attentively to the sound of his voice. It goes on for thirty-five minutes but Youngjae thinks hardly any time has passed at all.

They’re jerked away from watching the movie when they hear footsteps. Jinyoung must’ve gotten out of bed. Yugyeom leaps off the couch, meeting Jinyoung in the hallway. The boy is standing a little awkwardly, probably due to the pain in his abdomen, and he’s got a few bruises and cuts on his face still. But he looks otherwise unbothered.

“I can walk myself,” he says to Yugyeom as he goes slowly to sit in one of the chairs in the living room. “I’m still capable. I didn’t lose a leg.”

“You shouldn’t reopen your wound,” Yugyeom points out. “Besides, Jaebeom told me to make sure you don’t move around too much. I’d get scolded if you were running all around the house.”

“Jaebeom can surely understand that I’m not a solitary person,” Jinyoung states. “I’m assuming you two vampires are loners.”

“Compared to other people, yeah, but it’s not like we’re recluses.”

Jinyoung looks a little mystified. He must still be trying to grasp the concept of supernatural creatures. “How old are you two… don’t tell me Jaebeom’s a hundred years old.”

“Ha, no. He’s got the body of a 23 year old, and he’s twenty-six right now. Still young.”

“Ah, he must be born in the same year as me… he does look youthful. Pretty.” His head snaps up. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

Yugyeom’s instantly got a mischievous look playing over his face. “Aw why? Jaebeom would love the compliment.”

“I’m not telling a _vampire_ that he’s hot. That’s classic Bella Swan vibes.” He shakes his head vigorously. “I will not be associated with that.”

“So you’ve read the vampire literature,” Youngjae jokes.

In response, Jinyoung’s face reddens, embarrassed to be caught. “Yeah, but I’ve read a lot of vampire stuff. I’m a literature major, after all. The genre is interesting but I never really thought it’d translate to reality.”

“I gave Youngjae the crash course on what’s bullshit and what’s not in the supernatural media,” Yugyeom informs him. “There’s a lot of discrepancies.” 

Jinyoung looks from Yugyeom to Youngjae, some kind of sly look forming in his eyes. “So, what’s with you two? Is this some kind of doomed vampire-human relationship?”

The both of them startle. Youngjae quickly answers, “We’re not in a relationship. We’re friends. Neighbors.”

“Yeah, it’s platonic,” Yugyeom adds unnecessarily, his hand coming up to sweep hair out of his face as the other tightly grips the chair he’s sitting in.

“You two seem close though. I thought you might be cursed lovers or something of the sort,” he says, leaning back and crossing his legs. Jinyoung’s words spark feelings in Youngjae’s chest that suffocate him. “Do vampires date humans often?”

“Um, depends on the person.”

“It’s kind of stupid to me. Like why date someone that could kill you and not age with you?” Jinyoung shrugs. “But then again, attraction can’t be stopped. I guess it’s everyone’s choice.” He glances leisurely around the room. “Where’d Jaebeom go?”

“He’ll be back soon. Clingy now, huh?”

“Absolutely not.”

Youngjae enjoys the back-and-forth between Jinyoung and Yugyeom. He can tell Jinyoung will have a fun time here in the apartment, too. It’s just what a literature major college student needs in his life.  
But while they talk, he’s caught up in his own thoughts about how fast his heart is beating and why he suddenly can’t look Yugyeom in the eyes. A small amount of panic builds in his heart, for whatever reason… he has the sudden urge to talk to Jackson.

“You okay?”

Youngjae glances up at Yugyeom before quickly looking away. “Yeah, I’m fine, just dozed off for a second…”

He gives him a tiny smile. “If you’re tired you can go home. It’s okay.”

And yet, Youngjae feels like he never wants to leave. His feet root to the ground as he shakes his head. “I’m not that tired!”

Jinyoung watches the entire exchange with some analytical, knowing look that is absolutely infuriating. Youngjae feels like he knows what’s going through Jinyoung’s head right now, too, and that’s the worst part of it.

A moment later, Jaebeom walks through the door. Just as he closes it, he spots Jinyoung on the couch and his eyes snap to Yugyeom.

“He didn’t walk around that much I swear!” he starts whining immediately. “I can’t control him anyway!”

“Yugyeom, you are bigger than him, and also a vampire. You can manage it.” Jaebeom glances back to Jinyoung. “You should eat something.”

“I can make ramen,” Youngjae volunteers, having suddenly caught the itch to do something with his hands.

“Okay, cool. Thanks Youngjae,” Jaebeom says as he walks over to Jinyoung. He takes a pillow and hands it to him. “Support your back so you don’t strain the cut.”

“My back is perfectly supported,” he replies, but puts the pillow behind him anyway. 

Yugyeom hangs out at the counter while Youngjae’s preparing the food. He watches like a bored puppy. He takes sips from his bottle (luckily still not transparent) in between his words. 

“Do you think Jackson will be surprised that vampires are real?” Yugyeom asks. 

He considers this. Jackson is a very adaptive person, but I think something like vampires being real would shock him a little. “I really can’t tell. We’ll see tomorrow, I guess. What time is Mark coming?”

“He’ll be in at noon. Everyone could come over here, maybe. And then I’m sure Mark and Jackson will want to go out together or something.”

Youngjae chuckles as he stirs the pot. “I still can’t believe Jackson and Mark are like, involved. It’s crazy that our worlds collide in more ways than one.”

“Yeah…” He laughs as his eyes study the pattern in the granite countertop. “You know, I’m glad Jaebeom managed to kill that guy in our apartment. I wouldn’t have met you otherwise. And even if I did, we wouldn’t have been as close because you wouldn’t know I’m a vampire.”

He looks at Yugyeom with a sudden rush of affection. His mouth opens as he begins to say something, but Jinyoung managed to pick up on the conversation from across the room.

“Jaebeom killed someone?” he repeats, startled.

And Jaebeom, who had been cleaning the TV stand, just laughs, giving Jinyoung a teasing look. “Yeah. I’ve killed before.”

“Aren’t you a cop?” Jinyoung shoots back, mildly appalled.

“Being a cop makes it easier.” He winks, and Jinyoung looks even more scandalized.

Yugyeom swivels in his stool, enthusiastic to join the conversation. “He kills people who are serial killers or repeated abusers! He can’t really brag about it or else he’d get arrested, but I think it’s a pretty attractive quality of Im Jaebeom’s.”

Jinyoung looks speechless with his mouth hanging slightly open. After a moment passes, he looks toward Jaebeom. “Let me guess, you drink their blood afterwards, too.”

“Yup. It’s fresh.”

“Oh my god. Why can’t you drink animal blood? Like in Twilight?” Jinyoung questions.

“Because animal blood is actually very gross,” he mutters. “Trust me, Jinyoung, I don’t kill randoms. That’s unethical.”

Jinyoung slumps back in his seat. “At least it’s the murderers you’re killing.”

Youngjae brings Jinyoung a bowl of ramen, and the boy sits back up and thanks him. “Next time I think Jaebeom should make it,” he adds with a sparkle in his eyes.

“Why?” Jaebeom asks incredulously.

“To see how good you are.”

“I’ve been a vampire for three years. I don’t remember what anything besides blood tastes like.”

Jinyoung shakes his head. “What a sad life.”

This earns nothing but an eye roll from Jaebeom.

Needless to say, the Kim/Im apartment has become that much more interesting with Jinyoung’s addition. Youngjae can’t wait to see how that’s affected by Mark’s return tomorrow, and his meeting with Jackson.

“Youngjae,” Jackson whines, “do you think Mark likes a trendy style more or a casual one?” He grabs Youngjae’s hoodie sleeve as he walks past. “I can’t decide what to wear!”

He yanks his arm out of Jackson’s grasp. “Get a hold of yourself. You’re very handsome so what you wear doesn’t even matter. Besides, I don’t think Mark would have a preference. He’d like whatever looks good on you.”

Jackson looks like he’s five seconds from ripping his hair out. He flops back on the couch and makes inhuman noises. “Mark Tuan will be the death of me!” he yells out. Youngjae’s sure the closest neighbors could hear that one.

“Mark Tuan is going to love you,” Youngjae counters. He smacks Jackson with a Swiffer duster.

He squeals. “You don’t know that!”

“I absolutely do. Now stop yelling before the neighbors file a noise complaint on your ass.”

Jackson rolls dramatically off the couch and onto the floor.

“The man bought you a fucking gaming chair. He’s already whipped for you,” Youngjae reasons, pulling him up by the arm. “Now go get dressed. He’s going to be at their apartment in a half hour.”

Squeaking, Jackson runs down the hallway with the urgency of the impending deadline. Youngjae chuckles as he leaves. The boy clearly wants Mark to regard him well, but Youngjae’s sure he won’t have a problem. He knows they’ll have chemistry just thinking about it.

As he does the dishes, he thinks of all the time he’s spent at Yugyeom’s apartment and all the fond memories they’ve shared there. The monopoly, the ice cream, the murder… He thinks of Yugyeom, the tall vampire with the energy of a golden retriever puppy. His heart races and he can’t stop thinking about him, and how it felt during the rare times he would touch him.

 _I can’t believe it_ , Youngjae thinks, nearly dropping the slippery dish into the sink. _I’m really crushing on Yugyeom, aren’t I?_

Just those words make Youngjae’s knees shake. Maybe all the times he’s wanted to kiss the smile off his face had a reason.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jackson comments when he walks in, dressed and somehow recovered from his brief episode ten minutes earlier.

“Hm, what?”

Jackson stares at him. “You okay?”

“No. No, I’m not.”

His eyes widen, and he sets his phone down. “Okay. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong is I have a crush on the damn neighbor and I’m meeting him in twenty minutes and I’m not going to be able to look him in the eye,” Youngjae confesses, his soapy hands dripping water onto the floor.

Jackson’s face brightens with laughter. “I knew you liked him! He’s cute, isn’t he? Like a puppy.” He gives Youngjae a friendly slap on the back. “It’ll be okay. Just don’t think about it, really.”

“Easier said than done. Jackson, he does things to me.”

“Take the next ten minutes to meditate.”

“That’s not helpful!” Youngjae whines.

In retaliation, Jackson grabs aforementioned Swiffer duster and smacks his arm with it. “In your words, ‘get yourself together.’”

Needless to say, Youngjae and Jackson both arrive at the Vampire Apartment rather flustered. Yugyeom’s the one who greets them at the door and Jackson, being the annoying little shit he is, keeps sending Youngjae side-eyed looks. Youngjae wants to choke him.

“I got more strawberry ice cream for you, by the way,” Yugyeom adds. “It’s in the freezer if you want any. It was on sale.”

“Thank you!” Youngjae squeaks. “I was just craving it earlier. You read my mind.”

He winks. “Of course.” Youngjae had never seen him wink before, but it’s adorable because he can hardly wink correctly. His half-assed wink is strangely attractive.

Jackson makes himself right at home, sitting next to Jinyoung on the couch. “So are you like, their cousin or something?” Jackson asks conversationally.

Jinyoung, who had been coached earlier to not reveal anything vampire-related till Mark did, wrinkles his nose. “Ew, no. I am… just here.”

“He’s a coworker of mine that needs a place to stay,” Jaebeom corrects. He gives Jinyoung a small glare when Jackson isn’t paying attention.

“Ahh, so you’re a police officer too. Police officers are sexy when they aren’t killing people,” Jackson says. “I guess it’s just the aesthetic of the uniform.”

Jinyoung gives him a blank look. “Um. Thanks.”

Jaebeom, luckily, intervenes in the ill-fated conversation. He glances up from his phone, announcing, “Mark’s here.”

At that moment, the doorbell rings. Youngjae watches the panic cross over Jackson’s face as Yugyeom answers the door.

“Hey Mark! Back from Italy!” he greets, giving him a hug.

“Glad to see you all thriving,” Mark says as he steps inside and sweeps the room with his smile. His gaze lands finally on Jackson, to whom he gives a warm look. “Look who it is.”

“Hey Mark.” Jackson’s voice wavers but he keeps his grin.

The man approaches him, placing something in a box in the palm of Jackson’s hand with a wink. “Open that later, babe.”

Yugyeom looks scandalized, and everyone in the room is just looking at each other while Jackson and Mark share their moment. Jackson is wide-eyed but so, so soft for Mark. It makes Youngjae laugh.

“So how do you think this is going to go for them when Mark tells him?” Youngjae whispers to Yugyeom.

Yugyeom chuckles. “We’ll see. Judging by how Jackson is acting right now, I don’t think he’ll care that much.”

“Do you think they’ll continue to like, be involved with each other?” Youngjae wonders. “I wonder how vampire and human relationships work…”

“Vampires can still have sex, if that’s what you’re wondering. We’ve got something in our veins that acts like blood that isn’t blood. So we can still get hard.”

He explains that so casually and Youngjae’s a blushing mess in seconds. That wasn’t exactly what he meant, and now he does not know what to do with that information. “Oh.”

Luckily, they get distracted by Jackson blatantly being putty in Mark’s hands. He’s giggling as Mark talks to him, telling him something about a funny story from when he was abroad, while Jinyoung watches in obvious disgust at how gushy they are and Jaebeom just looks entertained.

Youngjae, meanwhile, begins putting out the food for the humans of the apartment. Jackson notices immediately and tugs on Mark’s sleeve. “Let’s go eat~”

“I can’t.”

Youngjae freezes. So this is how Mark plans on informing Jackson. Lovely.

“Why not?” Jackson frowns. “Skipping meals doesn’t make you healthy. Take my advice. I work at Planet Fitness.”

Mark shakes his head. “I can’t eat this food because I’m a vampire.”

The silence in the room is so hilarious. Jackson furrows an eyebrow, laughing. “Why are you trying to prank me? I’m not stupid.”

“No, it’s true.” He pulls back his shirt and shows the bite marks, similar to the ones Jaebeom had shown Youngjae weeks ago. “See?”

Jackson looks incredulously from Mark to blank-faced Jinyoung to an anxious Jaebeom. And then, desperately, at Youngjae. “Is this some elaborate joke or something?”

“Jackson, I’m telling you this because I want to be honest with you about what I am so it can be your decision whether or not you want to continue talking to me,” Mark tells him gently. “Dating a vampire isn’t for everyone.”

His face flushes. “We aren’t dating! We’re just-”

“I know, but if we get there,” he says hopefully. “Do you believe me?”

“To be honest, I still think you’re joking with me. That’s got to be make-up or something,” Jackson admits tiredly.

Mark guides Jackson’s fingers to the marks on his neck to feel the slight variation in the skin. Jackson gasps. “You’re so cold!”

“Hm. Wonder why,” Jinyoung mutters. Jaebeom smacks his arm.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jackson says, pale-faced and in wonderment. “... Vampires actually exist? And you’re one of them? How come you aren’t out for my blood or something?”

“Because I like you. Also because I have self control. I’ve been a vampire for four years so I’m not a hundred years old or anything like that,” he confides. He jerks his thumb behind him. “Jaebeom’s been one three years, and Yugyeom one.”

Jackson audibly gasps. “You two are vampires too?” he exclaims. Then, he snaps his head to Youngjae. “You knew about this?!”

“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Youngjae says to him. It’s the truth.

“What about you?” Jackson interrogates when he turns to Jinyoung.

He shakes his head. “I’m warm blooded. Also, I’m not here willingly. They’re ‘protecting’ me.”

“Protecting,” Jackson whispers, awed. He looks back at Mark without searching for the story behind Jinyoung’s words. His mind must be all over the place. “Wait, so even as a vampire, you’d still want to talk to me?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have pursued you if I didn’t,” Mark points out. “But the question is, are you still cool with this?”

He considers it for just a moment before nodding vigorously. “You’re still Mark, even though you don’t have a pulse.”

“Heartwarming,” Jinyoung remarks.

Youngjae is relieved that Jackson has taken the news well, although he approaches him later, after eating, to express concerns.

“So Yugyeom’s a vampire?” Jackson says quietly. “And you’re still crushing on him despite it?”

“I really can’t control it. I don’t have feelings _because_ he’s a supernatural being. He hardly acts like one. I have feelings because he’s genuine and caring and cute. It’s, quite frankly, a problem,” Youngjae tells him with a lighthearted laugh. “It’s okay, Jackson. Don’t worry about me.”

He relents, smiling sheepishly. “I guess you’re right, because I’m in the same boat as you.”

Jackson and Youngjae have bonded over many things in the past, but having feelings for vampires is a unique scenario.

Jackson goes out with Mark that night, and it makes Youngjae happy to see him so enthusiastic. The way they look at each other is warm, even though this was their first meeting. He comes home that night to wake Youngjae up and gush to him about how kind Mark was and cutely he was dressed and how perfect the night was, and Youngjae wasn’t even mad that he had been woken up. 

“Hey, do you wanna go take a walk?” is the innocent text from Yugyeom that starts off Youngjae’s evening. He has no reason to disagree, so he accepts, and informs Jackson that he’ll be out for a while.

Yugyeom meets him at his apartment door. He glances over Youngjae, then says, “You’re going to get cold. It’s chilly out today.”

“I won’t-”

Yugyeom takes off his jacket and places it over Youngjae’s shoulders. “I know humans will get sick if they’re cold.” He beckons Youngjae to follow him down the hallway, so that they can begin their walk. Youngjae hurries after him, already feeling too hot with the addition of Yugyeom’s jacket that makes his skin feel like it has set fire.

The sky above them is a dark blue gradient, as the sun falls over the horizon, leaving the streetlights and the stars. It’s quite beautiful.

“Do vampires ever get sick?” Youngjae asks thoughtfully, once they’re out in the windy street. “I know you don’t have blood like humans do, so your immune system probably wouldn’t work the same, either, right?”

“There are very rare vampire diseases. I’ve only heard of them from Mark. They’re mostly transmitted from vampire to vampire,” Yugyeom responds.

“Ah. That’s good that it’s rare.” Youngjae cracks a smile. “Another benefit of being a vampire huh? No more colds.”

Yugyeom snorts, laughing loudly. “I don’t miss them. Damn, I forgot about that. Never again.” He reaches out to squeeze Youngjae’s hand. “I’m sorry you’re a human.”

He doesn’t let go of his hand, and Youngjae feels like he might faint. Yugyeom’s hand isn’t exactly keeping him warm, but his own hand is heating up just from the tension of the contact.

“Sometimes I forget you’re a vampire,” Youngjae confesses, blushing.

“Really?” he asks in mild surprise.

Youngjae nods, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk. “You’re bright and animated and that’s not something I’d really associate with a vampire. Because a vampire is supposed to be an edgy, violent, bloodthirsty, seductive creature… but you’re like… life, personified.”

Yugyeom stays silent for a couple seconds. Youngjae panics, wondering if he said too much or offended him, but the boy just laughs. “I’m not seductive?” he jokes. “I can be seductive when I want.”

“Okay, but from what I’ve seen from you so far,” Youngjae amends, smiling. “If it weren’t for your lack of a pulse, I’d assume you were a human.”

He squeezes his hand a little tighter. “I’m glad you think of me like that. I was afraid you’d might think that I’m like the vampires in movies… I’m touched, really.” His tone is serious, all of a sudden. “I’m glad you were the human I met.”

“Do you think I’m like the standard human?” Youngjae teases.

“No. You’re honestly the first person that I met that radiates good feelings, like you do. You know, when you smile, it’s like the feeling I used to get when the sun would shine on my shoulders in the summer. It makes everything bad melt away.” He chuckles. “You have a superpower, Youngjae.”

His chest feels so hot and constricted, his heart beating a thousand times a second, nothing but Yugyeom in his head. “I do?” he lets out, breathlessly.

Yugyeom gives a bright, relaxed grin. “I wouldn’t lie to you.” He pauses, then seems to make an internal decision. “Your smile made me get the biggest crush on you. Like I couldn’t breathe when I saw it. And I realized I had these feelings even if you weren’t smiling. If you were just relaxing, you’re still so pretty and- I guess what I’m trying to say is that this is my confession. You can reject me and I wouldn’t blame you at all, because I’d understand why, but… I’d like to go out with you.”

Youngjae’s mouth forms an “o” and his eyes are huge as he stares up at Yugyeom, shocked that this confession is even happening. He feels light on his feet, his head swaying a little, but his heart already knows what it wants. “I’ll go out with you,” he whispers, a smile forming. “God, I can’t believe you feel like this too.”

Yugyeom’s expression is that of relief. His warm laugh fills Youngjae’s ears. “Maybe I’ll have to make it more obvious, then.” He wraps Youngjae up in a hug, his feet coming off the ground as Yugyeom lifts him up (he’s reminded of how damn tall the boy is). Yugyeom twirls him around and Youngjae can’t stop smiling. _What a night_.

As they start walking again, Youngjae is filled with an eager but nervous enthusiasm for the experience of dating Kim Yugyeom. His heart flutters in his chest at the very thought- but it’s reality now, so he’ll have to mentally prepare himself.

Five minutes later, Yugyeom suddenly speaks up again. “Youngjae?”

“Yeah?”

“I know we’ve been going out for all of five minutes, but you look really cute tonight and your cheeks are red and I was wondering if I could kiss you,” he rambles.

That’s when Youngjae feels like his heart will give out. “Yes, please, god.”

Yugyeom stops him on the sidewalk, brushing a thumb across Youngjae’s reddened cheeks as he smiles so warmly. Then he leans in and kisses him.

God.

Youngjae’s knees are wobbling, and he would legitimately fall over if it weren’t for Yugyeom’s hand on his back. He absolutely cannot handle the sensation of Yugyeom’s kiss. He’s kissed people before, but this time, the genuine emotion and Yugyeom’s sweetness make him want to die (in a good way).

“Yugyeom,” Youngjae whines in a quiet voice, almost a whisper. “Why are you such a good kisser?”

His laugh sets off that fluttery feeling in his chest. “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear,” he says, giving Youngjae a kiss on the cheek before pulling away. “Let’s go get ice cream before we go back, okay? I’ve got to treat my boyfriend.”

Youngjae relents, still blushing uncontrollably. “Okay. But how am I going to repay you when you can’t even eat anything?”

“I’m sure you’ll find some way.” Yugyeom takes his hand again on the way to the ice cream shop.

Debriefing Jackson on what happened that night is a very exciting time, and Youngjae gets bruises on his arms from Jackson shaking him while screaming.

“CHOI YOUNGJAE congratulations on your fucking boyfriend!” he sings gleefully. Jackson has always been his hype man and this time is no different. Watching the guy dance around the living room while spewing questions is quite entertaining.

“Yes, he got me ice cream afterward,” Youngjae confirms. “Kind of weird since he couldn’t eat anything so we sat together while I ate but still, it was fun sitting in the ice cream shop at such a late time of day when no one else is there.”

“So that’s what you did? Went on a walk and got ice cream? That’s fucking cute I’m jealous.”

Youngjae giggles. “He also kissed me.”

“HE KISSED YOU?!” he exclaims. “You two haven’t even had your first date!”

“Yeah, but the timing was right and he was really sweet. Plus, he _asked_ if he could kiss me, which is even cuter and I can’t believe that happened.”

Jackson squishes Youngjae’s cheeks in his fit of enthusiasm. “I’m so fucking happy for you, ugh. I’m glad that man is making you happy. It’s what you deserve.”

Youngjae feels like the sun could erupt out of his chest from how euphoric he feels. He hasn’t felt this… excited about a relationship before. He reaches out and shakes Jackson, laughing. “I’m dating Yugyeom.”

“You’re dating Yugyeom,” Jackson confirms, shaking him back. “Better be prepared for dates with him. More kisses.”

His face feels like it’s on fire. “Jackson,” he whines. “I can’t think about it all right now.”

“You’re adorable,” he concludes, ruffling Youngjae’s hair. It does nothing to soothe the fluttery feeling in Youngjae’s chest. 

“Hey,” Yugyeom greets when he opens his door for Youngjae, who walks right inside.

Youngjae holds out a little plastic container, beaming. “I got you a new mouse for your computer because I remembered when you kept texting me about how your old one broke and you sent me pouty dramatic selfies with it.”

Yugyeom starts cackling. “You remember that?” He accepts the mouse, smiling like an idiot. “I won’t have to use my track pad anymore, which is great because it hardly works with vampire skin anyway… you really know the way to my heart, Youngjae.”

They hear Jaebeom laughing his ass off in the background. “Yeah, get him anything video game related and it’ll win him over,” he remarks, glancing between them. “You two are cute.”

“Of course we’re cute,” Yugyeom boasts as he wraps an arm around Youngjae’s shoulder. “I’d expect nothing less.”

“Good luck with him, Youngjae,” Jaebeom mutters, but doesn’t bother lowering his voice so Yugyeom can’t hear.

“Hey!”

Youngjae laughs softly. “I’m familiar with his antics. I wouldn’t say yes to dating him if I thought that this would be a calm relationship.”

“They’re dating?” Jinyoung asks, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he stumbles into the room wearing a hoodie and sweatpants.

“It’s one in the afternoon. Why are you still asleep?” Yugyeom says.

“He insisted on staying up with me till four in the morning watching the latest season of Vampire Diaries. Kept making fun of me for watching it but I think he secretly enjoyed it,” Jaebeom explains in amusement.

Jinyoung gets mildly defensive, but he’s also half-asleep. “I just find it funny that you get entertainment out of watching a teen vampire romance show. Anyway, I asked a question and I want the answer.”

“Yes, we’re dating,” Yugyeom confirms. “Turns out he had a crush on me too but who could blame him-”

“Oh my god shut up.”

Jaebeom looks up from his phone. “Sorry to ruin your banter, but Mark’s going to be over in five minutes, seems a little urgent. I wish he was more transparent.”

“Did he and Jackson go out today?” Yugyeom asks, glancing at Youngjae.

Youngjae frowns. “No, Jackson was still home when I left to come here.”

“Maybe there’s a blood shortage,” Jinyoung suggests dryly as he sits down on the sofa and props his feet up on the coffee table.

“Are you volunteering yourself?” Jaebeom shoots back.

Yugyeom can’t hold back his giggle, earning himself a glare from Jinyoung.

“Can vampires drink human blood without killing them?” Youngjae wonders aloud. He’s never really thought about that possibility.

“It’s possible, theoretically, but it’d require a great deal of self control that most vampires don’t have. You can’t drink much blood from humans before they’d faint,” Jaebeom answers. “So most vampires avoid it. But I’ve heard some humans get off on feeling lightheaded, so there’s that.”

Jinyoung gets a look on his face equivalent to the thought of, “how did my life choices bring me to this moment?”

There’s a knock at the door that prevents any sarcastic comment from Jinyoung to come out of his mouth. Jaebeom jogs over to answer it, opening the door to Mark who has a stranger, a vampire, gripped by the arm. He opens his mouth to speak, but the stranger’s eyes narrow in on something in the room and he breaks from Mark’s hold.

It all goes by in slow motion. Yugyeom pulls the frozen Youngjae behind him, Youngjae’s eyes still glued on the newcomer.

The vampire is running, and Youngjae realizes with a sinking feeling that his sight is set on Jinyoung across the room- Yugyeom is too far away to do anything. He grips Yugyeom’s arm tighter out of split second panic.

Jaebeom lunges forward, tackling the vampire to the ground just before it reaches Jinyoung. Everyone in the room flinches from the “thump.” Mark runs over and crouches beside him, helping Jaebeom to get the vampire to stop thrashing.

“What the fuck is this, Mark?” Jaebeom snaps.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I turned him… he was a victim of a stabbing yesterday, he begged me to help him…”

“He’s been a vampire for _one day_ and you brought him here? _Jinyoung_ and _Youngjae_ are here! They’re going to get hurt, he can’t control himself!” he yells, angry.

Mark shakes his head, frowning. “Jaebeom, I really am sorry, I should’ve thought it through. I brought him here because I didn’t know where else to take him.”

Frustrated, he glances over his shoulder at Yugyeom. “Go get a few zip-ties.”

Youngjae watches, wide-eyed, as they layer zip-ties around the vampire’s wrists and ankles, tying a few to the chair he’s sitting in. The vampire, who is very tall and lanky, looks exhausted.  
“What’s your name?” Jaebeom asks as he finishes off with the last zip-tie.

“BamBam,” he says, quiet. He’s got a look of guilt behind the fear on his face. “I’m sorry…”

Jaebeom frowns. “It’s not your fault. It’s the venom in your veins,” he says, despite the intensity of his outburst at Mark. “We were all there before.”

He stands up, his gaze catching on Jinyoung, who is speechless and trembling on the sofa. Jaebeom sits down beside him out of concern. He grips his hand tightly to stop it from shaking. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just a little caught off-guard.”

Jaebeom chuckles, a hint of affection in his laugh. “It’s okay to be shaken, Jinyoung. You don’t have to pretend to be unbothered.” He hands him a glass of water, giving him something to focus his hands on.

Back at the chair, Mark is explaining to Bambam how he turned him. “I hope I made the right decision… I know, for some, the idea of living forever is unbearable.”

“I asked you to save me. That’s what you did.” He seems to be coping well with the news. He glances around the room. “But tell me, where are we?”

“This is my friend Jaebeom’s apartment. Jaebeom is over there with one of the humans, Jinyoung. Jaebeom and Yugyeom are vampires too. Youngjae is the other human,” Mark explains. “Jaebeom is helping Jinyoung recover from an injury and Youngjae is their neighbor, so they’re over here most of the time.”

“Will I stay here too?” Bambam asks.

Mark sighs. “Probably not. Since you’re young, you won’t be able to control your impulses. Any smell of a living being will set you off. It won’t be safe to have you living with humans. Jaebeom and Yugyeom can because they’ve been vampires for a great deal longer than you have.” He thinks for a second. “I’ll probably take you in, like I did with Jaebeom three years ago. I’ll teach you how to control yourself.”

“... Thank you, honestly. I feel like any other vampire would just abandon me to nature.” He laughs. “Then again, I just learned vampires existed a couple minutes ago. I don’t know what they’re like.”

“Jaebeom, Yugyeom, and I are very friendly so you’re lucky,” Mark says bluntly. “Some aren’t.”

Jaebeom returns his attention to the conversation. “Has he been fed yet at all?” he asks Mark.

“No, not yet.”

He gets up to get what Youngjae assumes is blood to satiate his thirst. But they’ll probably keep him zip-tied for a while, until Mark brings him back to his place. From his understanding, vampires at this age are entirely unstable. Even fully fed he’d probably be tempted by Jinyoung or Youngjae.

There is another knock at the door before Jackson enters with a guilty expression on his face. “Youngjae I broke the blender,” he announces.

“How the fuck did you break the blender?”

“I don’t know-”

“It was your chicken breast smoothie isn’t it?”

Jackson loses track of the conversation, eyes falling on Mark, and then Bambam. “Oh! There’s a party going on here. Why’s the kid zip-tied to a chair?”

“Welcome to my world,” Jinyoung says, sipping from a juice box Jaebeom must’ve brought him.

“I turned him,” Mark says, sighing. “You’ll probably see him a lot.”

“Hi, I’m Jackson. Mark is my sugar daddy.”

Bambam blinks. “I’m Bambam.”

“I want you two to be separated for a while though,” Mark warns. “Eventually I’ll let you two in the same room if I’m there. The reason he’s restrained right now is because he went after Jinyoung because I forgot fucking Jaebeom is keeping humans in his house.”

“I’m not his dog,” Jinyoung interjects, “even though I’m here against my will.”

Yugyeom rolls his eyes. “Your life is more exciting with us around, Jinyoung. Just admit it.”

“Anyway.” Mark glares at them both. “I may bring Bambam here on visits once he gets better at self-control since there’s always humans here.”

“Again? He nearly killed me not ten minutes ago, if you’ve forgotten.” Jinyoung looks wary.

“Jaebeom wouldn’t let him,” Yugyeom says.

Jaebeom gives Jinyoung a pointed look. His arms are crossed over his chest as he leans against the kitchen counter. “Yeah, I saved your life twice already so I may as well do it again.”

“This is some Twilight-level shit,” Jackson remarks.

Jinyoung sends an offended look his way. “Do _not_ compare my life to Twilight. Besides, Edward is so fucking useless anyway. This is not the same.”

“Ooo, so you think Im Jaebeom is better than Edward Cullen?” Yugyeom teases, always eager to provoke Jinyoung.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not much of a compliment.”

Jaebeom, meanwhile, has a tiny little smile on his face. Youngjae can’t exactly read his expression, but whatever it is, it’s a positive one. Might even be affectionate.

“Can any of you shut up for more than thirty seconds?” Mark asks, mildly irritated. “Poor BamBam just became a vampire and he’s adjusting to his situation and you all are having your dramatic banter.”

“It’s entertaining if anything,” Youngjae offers.

Jaebeom gives Mark a serious look. “You should probably get him home, then. Yugyeom and I can help you if you need it. I’ll trust those three with the apartment for a half hour.”

“I want to come with, Mark,” Jackson says in a pout but Mark shakes his head firmly.

“You didn’t witness what when on in here fifteen minutes ago,” he points out. “As much as I enjoy your company, you’re staying here, for safety’s sake.” He begins undoing Bambam’s ties while Yugyeom and Jaebeom have a firm hold on the boys’ lanky arms.

Jackson glances over his shoulder at the other two humans in the room. “What happened? Not gonna lie, I’m curious.”

“Near death experience for me,” Jinyoung tells him succinctly. “Wouldn’t recommend.”

He blinks. “That’s fun.”

As the boys begin leading Bambam out, Yugyeom throws Youngjae a smile as he leaves, while Jaebeom yells out, “Jinyoung, don’t use the toaster while I’m gone! I’ll be back in thirty minutes!” before closing the door.

Youngjae laughs. “So what’s the story behind that?”

His smile appears, little whiskers forming around his eyes. “It was when Jaebeom was letting me walk around more, and I decided to make myself some toast, because the guy got bread for me and I didn’t want it to go stale or anything, you know? So I put the bread in the toaster and turn it on, and the thing starts smoking and it nearly triggered the fire alarm. Turns out, the toaster is not only like a decade old but they also got it purely for the appearance of pretending to be human. Jaebeom scolded me and then told me about how he and Yugyeom bought it at a garage sale from an old woman.”

“Guess he wasn’t planning on having human visitors,” Jackson says, amused by the story.

That’s a thought. Jaebeom and Yugyeom probably never considered a human playing a role in their lives, until Youngjae came knocking on their door in the middle of a murder. Now, Youngjae’s a pretty important figure in Yugyeom’s life… the thought makes Youngjae blush, but it’s true. They’re boyfriends now.

And then came Jinyoung. He brought out Jaebeom’s protective nature, yet also managed to bring out his competitive, lively side. And Yugyeom loves to annoy him, too, so he’s a benefit to everyone. Even Youngjae enjoys his company, because he has another human he can eat meals with and bond over their discovery of vampires’ quirks (Jinyoung still thinks vampires are the most ridiculous thing that Earth came up with).

“Their fridge was empty before I got here,” Youngjae adds. “Now they keep a lot of food here even though none of them can eat it. I guess most of it’s for you, now, Jinyoung, since you basically live here.”

Jinyoung considers this, and agrees. “I hardly leave this damn apartment, so I guess that’s true. My shampoo and soap are in Jaebeom’s shower. The purple toothbrush he got me from CVS is there. Hell, I sleep in the guy’s bed.”

Jackson looks like he’s about to make some suggestive comment until reality dawns over him. “He’s probably never slept in that bed in his life, huh?”

“Nope. It’s an oddly intimate thing to sleep in someone else’s bed, but it’s not like he’s sleeping in it, either,” Jinyoung says, laughing slightly. “Yugyeom’s bed is always neatly made. It’s so weird and unnatural.”

There are things that throw Youngjae off, too. He’s received a couple 4am texts from Yugyeom before, and he always panics when seeing them, thinking something is wrong, but then he remembers the boy doesn’t sleep and that’s normal for him and his heart calms.

They manage to have a friendly conversation without Jinyoung and Jackson bickering, which Youngjae considers a win. Yugyeom and Jaebeom return a half hour later, as promised.

“You should probably start working on that essay,” Jackson mentions, elbowing Youngjae knowingly. “You’ve been avoiding it and it’s due soon.”

He groans. “I don’t want to.”

“You gotta.”

He considers this for a second. The sooner he gets it over with, the sooner he’ll be put out of his misery. But he could also just stay here with Yugyeom.

Ultimately, he has work tomorrow, so he shouldn’t stay up too late. He turns to Yugyeom, apologetic. “I’m going to go back and write the essay… I wish I could stay longer.”

“It’s okay. Good luck Jae.” He leans over to press a light kiss to Youngjae’s forehead, making him blush (he does that too often and he wishes he could control it). “Text me when you finish it and I’ll congratulate you~”

Jinyoung looks like he’s judging them while Jaebeom and Jackson are finding the exchange cute. Youngjae, meanwhile, has his eyes glued on Yugyeom. A part of him wishes Yugyeom would kiss him for real again, but everyone is watching them.

Next time.


	2. part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Youngjae finds that the world is not as simple as it may seem.

“I miss you,” Youngjae texts Yugyeom, laying in bed at 10 in the morning. It’s mostly a joke because they had gone on a “date” yesterday. It was mostly Yugyeom hanging out with him at his job and annoying his coworkers. Youngjae found it really cute despite overhearing his coworkers muttering about how “Youngjae’s new boyfriend may as well fill out a job application he spent so much time here today.”

He gets a text back five minutes later. “Check your front door~”

Heart skipping a beat, Youngjae leaps out of bed with a smile on his face. He nearly trips, rounding the corner into the living room and the front door. Jackson, who had been laying on the couch, looks absolutely bewildered as Youngjae throws open the door. Anticlimactically, though, there’s nothing in the hallway except for an old lady walking through with groceries in hand.

“There’s nothing here lol,” Youngjae texts back, wondering what in the hell Yugyeom meant. 

“Oh my god I’m at the wrong door,” is the instant reply, earning a giggle from Youngjae. Then, “I’m on the floor below you this is so embarrassing.”

When Yugyeom appears in the hallway a minute later, Youngjae starts laughing again at the sheepish look on his face. “I tried to be cute but it kind of failed.”

“Noo it’s funny,” Youngjae assures him, grinning. “You get a gold star for effort.”

Yugyeom wraps his arms around him and hugs him as a greeting. “Do you have work today?”

“Nope, I’m free. No essays either. You should come hang out,” he suggests in a sing-song voice. “We can play video games, whatever you want. I just… want to be around you.” His ending words are a little cliche but it makes Yugyeom smile widen, so it’s worth it.

“Absolutely,” Yugyeom agrees. “I wouldn’t pass up the chance to give my lovely boyfriend what he wants.”

The words, “ _then kiss me_ ,” nearly comes out of Youngjae’s mouth but he stops himself just in time. Kissing in the hallway of their apartment building isn’t romantic at all. He can wait.

When Yugyeom walks in, Jackson looks up from the television screen. “Hey, Yug. You two going somewhere today?”

“Nah, we’re just staying in. I’m going to beat Youngjae at Mario Kart.”

He snorts. “Sounds fun. Anyway, I’m meeting up with Mark later, just to let you know, Youngjae. I’ll text you and everything.” 

For safety’s sake, Jackson and Youngjae have made it a habit of letting each other know where they’re going when they’re out of the house, even pre-vampire encounter. Youngjae is glad for this. It gives him peace of mind to know Jackson is with someone that can be trusted.

He and Yugyeom go back to his room and they lay on his bed with the Wii remotes. Their shoulders touch, and Youngjae doesn’t move even though he knows that Yugyeom will use that to shove him mid-game and make him lose.

He enjoys the normalness that Yugyeom brings to his life. It’s almost like he’s a human, like everyone else, when he’s laying next to Youngjae with his eyes glued on the TV screen, yelling enthusiastically about how he’s going to pass Youngjae in the race. Youngjae finds his attention drifting to Yugyeom several times throughout the game, and subsequently he finds himself in last place a lot.

“Am I too distracting for you?” Yugyeom teases. _Great, he noticed._

“I’m just bad today,” he reasons, not wanting to admit that he likes watching Yugyeom’s eyes brighten when playing the game.

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say, Youngjae. _I_ think my stunning visuals are distracting you.”

“Oh, shut up,” Youngjae laughs, nudging him with his shoulder. “Maybe I’ve been going easy on you so you can win.”

“Bet.”

Somehow, they end up playing Mario Kart for several hours. It’s like time doesn’t pass when they’re together. There’s nothing on Youngjae’s mind but the pretty boy on his bed next to him.

It’s five o’clock when Yugyeom convinces him to make himself some food. They go to the kitchen and Youngjae notices Jackson’s not home. He checks his phone that he’s been neglecting, to see that he had indeed sent him a text letting him know he left. He swears he never heard his phone go off.

“I feel bad I can’t cook you anything,” Yugyeom admits, standing nearby as Youngjae puts a pot on the stove. 

“Why?”

“Because that’s a boyfriend thing to do right? Making food for each other is really sweet and I would do that for you, but I don’t want to kill you with how bad it tastes,” he jokes.

Youngjae raises an eyebrow. “I can’t cook you anything either, so we’re even.”

“That’s true,” he concedes. “Maybe I’ll have Jinyoung help me one day.”

As Youngjae brings the water in the pot to a boil, Yugyeom stands behind him, wrapping his arms around Youngjae’s waist. He rests his chin on Youngjae’s shoulder gently. 

“I remember when you wouldn’t go near me,” Youngjae comments, voice soft. “I’m glad we can be close now.”

“I couldn’t stay away from you,” he says. He twists Youngjae around so that they can face each other, and Youngjae sees the warm but teasing look on Yugyeom’s face.

The boy keeps his arms around Youngjae’s waist as he leans in to press a kiss to his lips. He nearly pulls away in just seconds, but Youngjae wraps his arms around his neck to keep him there, because he’s been wanting this kiss for days and he’s not letting it go that quickly.

Kissing in the kitchen with just a few lights on is a strangely romantic thing. Youngjae doesn’t want it to end, but Yugyeom breaks away when he notices the water is about to boil over. 

“Shit,” Youngjae curses, turning the heat down with unsteady hands. 

Yugyeom chuckles, brushing his hair out of his face. “Sorry.” He keeps his hands off Youngjae for the rest of the time he’s cooking to avoid any accidents. 

As Youngjae is about to sit down with his food, they both hear a characteristic scream. Youngjae meets Yugyeom’s eyes just as his gaze turns dark. 

“That’s Jinyoung, isn’t it?”

“Fuck,” Yugyeom mutters, and Youngjae instantly sets his bowl aside and they’re going for the door. 

Neither of them bother with shoes or locking the apartment. No one is in the hallway to see them sprinting down to the end of it.

Yugyeom tries the doorknob and it opens instantly. That makes Youngjae’s heart drop. 

The living room and kitchen are both empty, so they run to the open door: Jaebeom’s bedroom.

When they round the corner and enter, Youngjae is met with a sight that has him reeling.

Jinyoung is panting and shaking with an axe in his hand, blood dripping from an open cut on his arm. And on the floor in front of him, a body, with a decapitated head beside it.

Yugyeom’s jaw falls open, speechless. He’s able to speak only after a couple moments pass.

“Jinyoung, you killed a _vampire_! That’s… good for you, oh my god… what the hell happened?”

“I was laying in bed when I heard the front door opening really slowly… I knew something was up because you or Jaebeom wouldn’t come inside like that… the footsteps were really heavy. I hid in Jaebeom’s closet,” he explains, his voice breathless and shaky.

“You’re lucky you found his axe. That’s exactly why he has one.” Yugyeom frowns. “Wait, speaking of Jaebeom, where the hell is he?”

Jinyoung shrugs. “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me he left.”

In seconds, Yugyeom has Jaebeom’s number dialed and he’s got his phone up to his ear. He picks up in seconds.

“Jaebeom, where are you?... Yeah, there’s a _problem_. A vampire broke in while I was at Youngjae’s and Jinyoung almost died!” Yugyeom lowers his phone. “He hung up. He’s probably coming… damn, I can’t believe he left you alone like that.”

Jinyoung’s visibly shaken, but he manages to get out, “It’s not his fault.”

“He’s keeping you here to protect you. I’ve got a feeling this vampire is related to your accident,” Yugyeom says, gesturing to the body on the ground. “Probably came for revenge.”

“I can’t believe you killed it,” Youngjae adds. He’s still shocked. He remembers Yugyeom telling him that vampires are very hard to kill, by nature of decapitation being difficult. Somehow, Jinyoung managed it.

Yugyeom applies a bandage to Jinyoung’s arm. A knife is lying on the ground with the vampire. That was probably its means of neutralizing Jinyoung before drinking his blood. “Yeah, props to you, Jinyoung.”

A minute later, they hear the front door swing open and bang against the wall, making them all flinch. Jaebeom’s in the room in seconds, instantly going to Jinyoung’s side and scanning his body, practically pushing Yugyeom away. “Why didn’t you lock the door?” he demands.

“I thought you would have. I didn’t know you were out of the house,” he says quietly.

Jaebeom falters. “I… _I_ forgot to lock the door, didn’t I?” Then, he manages to notice the vampire body and head on the ground, and his jaw drops open just like Yugyeom’s had. “You killed it?”

Jinyoung nods. “I found the axe.”

“I should’ve told you about it beforehand… I’m so stupid, Jinyoung, I’m sorry,” he apologizes, looking as guilty as ever. He bites his lip when he sees the fresh bandage on Jinyoung’s arm.

“It isn’t your fault,” Jinyoung insists, looking him in the eye. “You’re not obligated to be constantly saving my life. I handled it.”

“I bet the guy is the one that hit you with the car so he’d be able to feed from you… I knew this was going to happen. Vampires hold grudges. I bet the guy lives in this apartment too. The accident was so close by that it’s likely. He probably was waiting for when you were alone in the house. Fuck.”

Jinyoung glances at his feet, where a few blood droplets have collected. “I’m sorry… the carpet’s stained.”

He blinks. “You were nearly murdered again and you’re worrying about the carpet?”

“It’ll get you in trouble with your landlord-”

“I’ll handle it,” Jaebeom assures him. He’s smiling, now, just a little. “Just rest, okay? … You’re the most fiery human I’ve ever met, you know that?”

Jinyoung manages a smile, too. “It’s what I’ve got to do to deal with all this vampire bullshit I encounter on the daily.”

Yugyeom exchanges a glance with Youngjae. He looks like he’s got a lot to say but he’s keeping his mouth shut. 

“I don’t blame you.” Jaebeom glances at Yugyeom, suddenly. “Help me with the body?”

Youngjae sits on the edge of Jaebeom’s bed with Jinyoung as the vampires carry the body out of the room. He really doesn’t want to know Jaebeom’s method for disposing bodies… he must be good at it considering he’s killed a lot of people.

Jinyoung looks flustered, his cheeks a little pink, but it’s probably because of the traumatic incident he’s had minutes prior. 

“How long do you think Jaebeom will have me stay here?” he asks out of the blue.

“Well, the danger’s been eliminated now. You killed him. So, if you really wanted to he’d probably let you go.” 

“Mm…”

Youngjae tilts his head. “Why? Are you in a hurry to go? I wouldn’t blame you. You must miss having a normal life.”

He hesitates. “No… no, that’s not it.” He shrugs. “I don’t have that much of an interesting life to get back to, anyway. I was just curious what you thought.” Then comes another pause. “Sorry, this is random, but, what is it like dating a vampire? … I’ve been wondering how that is going for you two.”

Youngjae laughs. “Valid question. I mean, it’s pretty normal. Big differences are that we can’t go out to eat together, we can’t make each other food. He’ll text me at random hours of the day when he’s bored, but I can’t answer because I’m asleep. Those are the only real differences I’ve noticed.”

He looks thoughtful. “What about, emotionally? Does it hurt, knowing that you’re going to age and he’s not? … I’m sorry if that’s a painful reminder.”

The reminder does jar him. His voice softens. “I’m not constantly reminded. The relationship is fairly new, even though we’ve been dating a while… it’s not really something we’re worrying about right now.”

“Ah. So it works for you. You’re happy.”

Youngjae nods, confirming it. “Yup. We’re happy.”

“That’s good. I’m happy for you,” Jinyoung says as he stands up, albeit unsteady. “Sorry for all the questions. I’m… I’m going to get something to eat.”

Youngjae is about to get up and follow him, but he receives a text from Jackson. “Hey, I just got back. Where are you?”

He writes out a whole text explaining the situation. “I’ll come home when Yugyeom gets back. I don’t think Jinyoung would want to be left in the house again.”

Youngjae wraps up his day by saying goodbye to Yugyeom when he returns, Yugyeom giving him a quick kiss when Jaebeom and Jinyoung aren’t paying attention. He looks at Youngjae with a lot of warmth… maybe today’s happenings sobered him up to reality. Youngjae’s death is more likely than his, and that’s just how things work.

But he doesn’t think about it too much.

“Youngjae come over here!”

He stands on his tip toes to look for Yugyeom above the racks of clothes. He spots the tall boy a couple feet away and heads over to him.

Yugyeom shows him a yellow hat and places it on Youngjae’s head, smiling. “It’s so cute, isn’t it?”

He glances at himself in a nearby mirror and bursts out laughing. It looks a bit stupid on his head but Yugyeom seems to like it. He’s grinning widely. “I’m going to get it for you.”

“We said we weren’t going to buy anything!” Youngjae protests.

“Oops,” he says, smirking as he walks over to the cash register.

Their date today was just walking around the city because Youngjae needed to go somewhere other than the apartment building and to classes and work. Yugyeom was more than happy to join him in his wanderings. 

Before they walk outside the store, Yugyeom puts the hat back on Youngjae’s head.

They go back to Yugyeom’s apartment at the end of their date, and Jinyoung appears to be the only one home when they get there.

“Jaebeom not here? I’m surprised he left you here again,” Yugyeom comments as he closes the door behind them.

Jinyoung, who is sitting on the sofa with his laptop, rolls his eyes. “He’s taking a shower.”

“Ah, that explains it. I don’t think he’d leave you alone so soon after your incident.”

“You don’t have to call it ‘the incident.’ That’s so ominous. Just say ‘after you got attacked by a hostile vampire.’ Call it like it is,” Jinyoung says bitterly.

Yugyeom sprawls out on a chair across from Jinyoung. “You know he feels really bad about what happened to you, right?”

“Yeah, I mean, he apologized several times. He didn’t need to. He’s-”

They’re interrupted by Jaebeom walking in the room with wet, slicked back hair, wearing a white t-shirt and sweatpants. “Hey Youngjae,” he says as he walks past. He grabs his phone charger off the kitchen counter and then goes straight back to his room.

“He needs to stop wearing sweatpants,” Jinyoung mumbles under his breath, turning back to his laptop. 

“Why? Because he’s hot?”

Jinyoung startles. He probably didn’t think he said what he had said out loud. 

“Does someone have a crush on Jaebeom?” Yugyeom sings.

“Oh my god no shut up!” Jinyoung hisses back, his face reddening.

“If you say so.” He glances at Youngjae. “Can you help me fix my laptop?”

Suddenly, he remembers the original intention for coming here. “Oh, yeah, sure.” They leave Jinyoung in his flustered state to go to Yugyeom’s room so that Youngjae can troubleshoot.

“I’m not exactly a tech wizard so keep that in mind,” Youngjae says under his breath as he sits down in the desk chair. “I blend fruit together for a living.”

Jaebeom enters the room seconds later. “Yugyeom, have you seen my hoodie? The red one?”

“Why the red one? You’ve got plenty of hoodies.”

“The red one is my biggest one. It’s soft.”

Yugyeom glances over his shoulder from where he was standing looking at his laptop screen beside Youngjae. “I have no idea where it is, but stay. I’ve got something I wanted to ask you.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah, how long is Jinyoung staying here? The guy that hit him is dead now. He really doesn’t have a reason to stay, does he?”

Jaebeom falters. “I guess not… I don’t know, he’s never said anything about leaving…”

“You haven’t either,” Yugyeom points out. “Maybe he’s waiting till you kick him out.”

There’s silence for a couple seconds. “I guess he has things to do, doesn’t he?”

Yugyeom narrows his eyes. “Do you _want_ him to stay?”

He has nothing to say about that for a couple seconds, but he recovers quickly. “It would just be weird here without him, that’s all. It’s been a while since we met him.”

That’s the big topic. When will Jinyoung go?

“I’ll talk to him,” Jaebeom says, but to Youngjae it seems like he’s brushing the topic aside. Not that Youngjae cares. He enjoys being around Jinyoung and he doesn’t know how often they’d see each other otherwise.

After Jaebeom leaves, Youngjae manages to fix the laptop in seconds. “Yugyeom, you had your webcam covered, that’s why the video wasn’t showing up.”

“Oops… thanks.” He laughs lightly. “At least one of us has problem solving skills.”

Youngjae smiles, spinning in the desk chair to face him. Yugyeom had invited him over specifically to fix the laptop, but now he doesn’t want to leave. The boy must understand the pleading look in Youngjae’s eyes, and asks, “Do you wanna stay and watch a movie?”

Needless to say, he accepts the offer. Yugyeom puts something on Netflix and they lay in his bed, Youngjae resting his head on his shoulder.

He finds himself shivering. “I’m cold.”

Without a word, Yugyeom rolls out of bed and grabs something from his closet. He tosses Youngjae a big gray hoodie. “I’m sorry I can’t warm you up,” he jokes as he sits back down beside him, pulling him closer by the waist. “The least I could do is let you wear my hoodies.”

Youngjae’s heart melts a little more. His boyfriend is the sweetest.

The movie is clearly nothing more than a reason for the two to hang out, as they realize ten minutes in when they’re paying more attention to their own conversation. Then, ten minutes later, they’re kissing again, Yugyeom’s longer body over his.

Youngjae notices how Yugyeom’s kisses stay on his face, never moving to his jaw, or his neck. At first, he thinks he’s just imagining it, but several times it seems like Yugyeom’s wanted to kiss his neck and stopped himself from doing so.

“You can kiss me wherever you want,” Youngjae reminds him softly, and their eyes meet.

“I don’t trust myself near your neck,” he confesses. “I… I don’t trust myself.”

Youngjae is reminded of how much Yugyeom says things like that. Even from the beginning, Yugyeom has had to work towards decreasing the distance between them, under the impression that he wouldn’t be able to control the murderous nature within him if he got too close. Nothing has ever happened, but somehow, he still feels this way… 

“I trust you,” Youngjae whispers.

“I’ll get there.” His words seem to be a promise, and Youngjae makes it his personal mission, too. He’s just got to build Yugyeom’s confidence a little, so that he won’t have to be afraid of hurting him. 

The water laps at the sand as Youngjae walks past, his arm wrapped around Yugyeom’s. He’s wearing a thicker jacket because the air is always colder on the shore, but he enjoys it nonetheless. Jinyoung and Jaebeom are walking ahead of them, their gazes glued out into the water.

They’re meeting up with Mark and Bambam today. It’s an exercise in the new vampire’s self-control. Mark says he’s actually been making huge improvements in such a short period of time, so he wants to try taking him out into public with humans nearby- the humans being Jinyoung and Youngjae. No one else would be walking by the water this early in the morning when it’s so cold outside.

They come upon a wooden pier, rounded so that one could see all angles of the water. Yugyeom pulls him forward enthusiastically. “Let’s take a picture together!” He fishes his phone out of his pocket and hands it to Jaebeom. “Take a good one please.”

Youngjae laughs as Yugyeom drags him to the railing, wrapping his arm around Youngjae’s waist and doing a peace-sign. He can’t help but smile. His excitement is contagious. Even though they’re just by a river in their city, it feels like they’re tourists in a foreign city and everything is so new and fascinating.

Yugyeom gives him a fresh perspective to life.

Jaebeom’s angling the phone awkwardly, trying to aim it, as Jinyoung stands over his shoulder. He frowns, taking it out of his hand. “Hold it in landscape. It’ll make a better photo.” After turning it, he gives it back. “Make sure it focuses before you take it.”

“Am I that technologically inept?” Jaebeom jokes under his breath. He taps the capture button a couple times before straightening up. “I think that’s fine. Maybe you should’ve asked Jinyoung to take the photo, Yugyeom.”

“I agree. Maybe your vampireness has turned you into an old man,” Jinyoung suggests as Yugyeom accepts his phone back and the group continue on their walk.

He gives him a look. “I think that’s the opposite of how it works. And if I’m an old man, you’re older,” he points out, grinning.

Jinyoung just rolls his eyes, nudging Jaebeom playfully. “Says the man who can’t work the camera app.”

“I spend most of my time at work or looking after _that one_ or you, so I’m not exactly taking pictures very often. I don’t need to know the difference between landscape and portrait mode.”  
“How is work going, police man? Kill anyone lately?”

Jaebeom laughs. “Nah, but I think we’ve got someone that might have to be on the list. Why, wanna help?”

“I’d rather not have that on my record,” Jinyoung says, his eyes sparkling as he looks up at Jaebeom. 

Yugyeom and Youngjae are walking behind the two, and Yugyeom is clearly listening in on their conversation and watching them. Judging by his expression, he seems amused. 

“How do you manage to not have gotten arrested yet?” Jinyoung asks with genuine curiosity.

He shrugs, smirking. “I’m just good at not getting caught. It’s an acquired skill. I actually almost got caught once, when I started out at the job. My shirt had blood all over it and I hadn’t realized, and I was at the station. I took my shirt off just before other people walked in. I was shirtless till I found something else to wear… I think they thought I was showing off.”

“Jaebeom’s buff as fuck!” Yugyeom yells out, startling Youngjae and making Jaebeom glare at him over his shoulder. “We should all go to the gym together and then you’ll see.”

Jinyoung ignores Yugyeom, giving Jaebeom a teasing look. “Yugyeom’s jealous, I think.”

“He’s pretty fit, too… vampires’ metabolism is pretty slow, so it takes a while for us to build up muscle if we weren’t turned with it. We’ve spent a lot of hours at the gym.”

“Mm. Dedication.”

“I mostly do it to keep up the look of a cop,” Jaebeom says quickly. “I don’t work out for anyone else. I’m not trying to impress anyone. There’s… there’s no one I want to impress.”

“Ah.”

“Jaebeom!” They all turn to see Mark walking up the opposite way with Bambam beside him. He’s got a firm grip on his arm- clearly, he hasn’t forgotten what happened last time.

“How’s he doing?”

Mark gives Bambam a proud look and a friendly slap to the back. “Quite well, actually. I think the first incident was just out of hunger… my mistake, really. Should’ve fed him first.”

Jinyoung’s facial expression tells a story, but the conversation moves on before a comment can be made.

“How’s everyone else?” Mark says, a little breathlessly, glancing at all the others. “You and Youngjae doing well?”

“Yeah, we are… what’s your deal, Mark? You seem nervous,” Yugyeom remarks. He manages to see straight through him.

“I’m not nervous,” he says defensively.

Bambam pipes up, “Oh, yeah, he is. He wants to start dating this guy called Jackson.”

“What!” Youngjae exclaims. “You want to date Jackson?!”

Mark buries his face in his hands. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told Bam about this,” he mumbles.

“You should ask him,” Jaebeom says supportively. “Worst that could happen is he says no.”

“He’s not going to say no,” Youngjae corrects. “Jackson really likes him a lot… this would make him so happy. I’m imagining it already, he’d be screaming.”

Jinyoung’s eyebrows are furrowed, having been quiet the entire time. “I’m confused,” he says, all of a sudden. “I thought they were dating already.”

“Mark is Jackson’s sugar daddy, basically. So they’re not necessarily official or anything,” Jaebeom explains to him.

“He’s been going on about how cute he is and how he’d rather just date him than do the casual thing,” Bambam says informatively. “I’ve had to listen to it several nights in a row.”

Mark looks distressed, now. “But the thing is, I travel around a lot and I’m rarely in the country and I don’t know if he’d be up to dating someone long distance like that. He’s a pretty affectionate guy and I don’t think he’d like that.”

“Take him with you,” Yugyeom offers. “That’d be romantic. Traveling the world with your boyfriend.”

Youngjae chuckles. “I wouldn’t have a roommate in that scenario, but I approve otherwise.”

His eyes light up all of a sudden. He turns to Youngjae, grinning. “Oh! I know the perfect solution.”

“What?”

Yugyeom points to Jinyoung. “That guy.”

“That guy” blinks once, then says, “So essentially I’d be moving down the hall.”

“Yeah, it’s perfect, isn’t it! You and Youngjae get along well, and it’s not like you couldn’t walk down the hallway if you miss me and Jaebeom.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourselves!” Mark says. “Jackson hasn’t even said anything about dating me. If he rejected me, you’d still have a roommate, Youngjae, and even if he wanted to date me, he might prefer to keep it long distance at first.”

Jaebeom shrugs. “Jackson would still live in Youngjae’s apartment, either way. He’d just be joining you on your extended vacations. I think he’d be pretty eager for that.”

“We’ll see. I’ll ask him soon,” Mark decides. That decision seems to stress him out a little more, because he’s running his hand through his hair pensively.

Youngjae and Jinyoung, the heat-needing ones of the group present, huddle together in the cold while the vampires continue their lighthearted bickering. 

“Would you let me move in with you?” Jinyoung whispers, voice so quiet he almost doesn’t hear it.

“You would have to share a room with Jackson or I, but yeah. The rent would be less. It’d be fine with me,” Youngjae answers. “But don’t you have somewhere else to go back to? Where did you live before the accident?”

“With my parents. But they couldn’t care less about me. They didn’t visit me at the hospital at all… I might’ve died that night, too. It goes to show what they think of me. They haven’t even called me after I said that I’d be staying with a friend for a while,” Jinyoung tells him. 

“Oh… I’m sorry. If you need somewhere to stay, my place is here. Unless you choose to just stay with Jaebeom and Yugyeom for the time being,” he says. 

He nods. “I’ll do that for now, just because everyone’s busy, but I might take you up on that offer eventually.”

“Jinyoung! Are you cold? Your cheeks are red,” Jaebeom remarks. 

“I’m fine.”

Jaebeom glances back at Mark and Bambam. “I think we’re going to go. Humans are cold. I’ll text you later. Let me know if you ask Jackson out.”

Mark rolls his eyes but agrees anyway. “Yeah. I’ll see you all later.”

After bidding farewell to Mark and Bambam, they start walking on the pathway back to the apartment.

“Jaebeom can we get a dog?” Yugyeom asks, pleadingly, out of the blue. 

Jinyoung pouts, looking up at Jaebeom with starry eyes. “That’d be really cute. Does your landlord let you have pets?”

“No, our landlord wouldn’t let us have a dog,” Jaebeom reminds Yugyeom, but to Jinyoung, he looks a bit more apologetic.

“We could sneak it in,” Yugyeom whines. “I never got to have a dog when I was a kid.”

Jaebeom gives him a look. “In case you forgot, we live forever Yugyeom. Having a pet’s not really ideal.”

“I’m heartbroken,” he says dramatically, draping his arms over Youngjae and pretending to be devastated.

“Sometimes I find it hard to believe that you’re twenty-two or however old you are,” Jinyoung mutters. “Do vampires call themselves by their physical or actual age?”

“Depends on the person. I’ve got the body of a twenty-three year old but I’ll tell people I’m twenty-six, which is how old I’d be if I were a human,” Jaebeom says. “Yugyeom’s twenty-two physically but twenty-three years old overall.”

“Mm. What if a kid was turned? Would it still age?”

“No, which is why turning children is considered morally wrong in the vampire community. I don’t think anyone would want to be frozen at age six for eternity.”

Jinyoung looks like a lot of thoughts are going through his head at once. “And what if someone’s body was in really poor health when they died? Would they have to work up to a normal body, like how you were describing with muscle mass?”

“You’re full of questions today, aren’t you?” He chuckles. “But no, if someone is extremely thin because of starvation, the turning process generally returns them to a livable weight just by nature of how the process works.”

Yugyeom pipes up, “Yeah, that’s how I was when Jaebeom turned me. I looked fine afterwards, just a little noodle-y because I had no muscles.” 

“Can you turn someone once they’re dead already?”

“Nope, that would be a zombie. Which doesn’t exist, by the way, so don’t be worried,” Jaebeom jokes. He turns a corner onto a sidewalk that is opposite of the path back to the apartment. Jinyoung stands in place, confused.

“Jaebeom, you’re going the wrong way,” he calls out.

“No I’m not,” he sings back, still walking, albeit slowly.

Jinyoung looks back at Youngjae and Yugyeom. “Where’s he going? Does he have memory loss?”

Yugyeom shrugs, following after him. Youngjae jogs a little to catch up, not really caring where they go because he gets to spend time with the boyfriend. Jinyoung trails after, both confused and concerned.

Jaebeom’s next turn is executed in front of a small, cute looking cafe- something you’d see featured on Instagram. He opens the door, a huge grin on his face. “We’ve arrived.”

Jinyoung protests, “But you can’t-”

“We’re going to get you two warmed up,” Jaebeom interrupts, decisive. “So get your ass inside before you freeze.” His last sentence is lighthearted and it coaxes a laugh from Jinyoung. Yugyeom and Youngjae follow right after.

“I’ll get you something,” Yugyeom promises. He looks delighted at the opportunity to buy Youngjae something. Youngjae’s been trying to discourage that behavior, because Yugyeom gives him enough love in the form of verbal affection and time spent together. But Yugyeom really seems to love getting him things. 

“Not something too expensive, please,” Youngjae begs as he tugs on Yugyeom’s sleeve. “I’ll feel bad.”

“Don’t. You’re my boyfriend and you deserve it,” he says conclusively- something Youngjae’s heard a million times already. It makes his chest and palms warm, though, every single time.

He watches affectionately as his tall boyfriend walks over to the counter to order something, his voice and expression so animated that Youngjae melts just looking at him.

“You like him a lot, don’t you?” Jinyoung comments, giving him a knowing look when Youngjae snaps out of his train of thought.

“I do,” he answers softly. It’s not anything he has to think about.

Jinyoung nods. “You two seem to have a genuine bond and I think you’re very lucky, in that sense. Your characters match well. You both seem to be on the same wavelength with what you want in a partner. He’s more energetic than you, but you love that about him, you might be more nervous than he is, but he’s willing to comfort you. I’ve noticed a lot by being stuck in that apartment for weeks… I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you, Jinyoung, I’m glad you think that.”

It leaves Youngjae with much to think about as the four of them sit down, the humans sipping their hot drinks. He and Yugyeom really are a great pair, so much so that other people have noticed and felt the need to comment on it (although that might just be Jinyoung- he has a lot to say in general). 

He reaches out and grabs Yugyeom’s hand while they’re talking and he holds it tightly. He doesn’t want to think about letting him go.

Post-coffee, Yugyeom and Youngjae decide to watch a movie at Youngjae’s apartment, in the living room. Jackson’s out so they won’t be disturbing him, anyway.

They’re settled on the sofa, Yugyeom’s legs draped lazily over Youngjae’s as they let the movie play.

Really, Youngjae has to learn that neither of them really have the attention span for watching movies if the other is in the room. Because halfway through the movie, they find themselves in the same position they were in the last time they tried watching one.

“We can’t finish a movie, can we?” Youngjae jokes between kisses.

“You’re too pretty, I can’t ignore you,” Yugyeom says in a bit of a whiny voice. He kisses his cheek. “I don’t think I’ve told you enough times how pretty you are… you’re so hot, too, your jawline, and your muscles…”

There’s the side of Yugyeom that Youngjae knew existed but still has yet to fully see. His heart races as Yugyeom kisses nearer his jaw, and he can hardly breathe as he nears his neck. Till he places one passionate kiss directly on the neck and all his breath leaves his body at once.

Finally, the damn man had the courage to kiss him on the neck. Youngjae really doesn’t understand the logic. It’s not like kissing his neck would tempt him into biting him and sucking his blood, the man is fully self-controlled.

Better late than never, though. 

But Yugyeom gets a little carried away and Youngjae assumes he’s probably going to have horrible marks on his neck afterward. 

He hardly hears the unlocking of the front door, which would’ve prepared him for the next moment to come.

“YOUNGJ- what THE HELL!” Jackson screeches.

Youngjae jumps as Yugyeom also goes into panic mode and hurls himself onto the floor. _Fucking hell._

“Jackson you never told me when you were coming home!” Youngjae protests, flustered.

“You shouldn’t have decided to make out with your boyfriend on the couch then!”

“We were just watching a movie!”

“Youngjae, oh my god, your neck.”

Fully embarrassed at this point, Youngjae closes his eyes and covers his face with his hands. He’s never dated while he and Jackson were roommates, so he has never encountered this problem before.

“You two were really into it, huh?”

“ _Jackson Wang_ ,” Youngjae yells, “I will kill you!”

“Oh, I’m so threatened.” Jackson’s just teasing him, at this point. Youngjae’s sure he’ll have something embarrassing to say to him later, when Yugyeom leaves.

“Would you be threatened by me?” Yugyeom pipes up.

Jackson scans him once. “No. You’re the least intimidating vampire I’ve ever met.” He turns back to Youngjae. “In fact, you two are the least intimidating couple ever. Except Youngjae gets a little scary when he’s mad.”

Yugyeom raises an eyebrow and glances at Youngjae, amused. “Hm, it’s hard to imagine you angry. Maybe I’ll have to hide your textbooks in my apartment somewhere, the night before an exam.”

“You’re evil,” Youngjae teases back.

“Okay, stop flirting in front of me,” Jackson mutters. “I just got back from Planet Fitness and I’m tired as fuck. Some girl kept trying to flirt with me and I’m just trying to tell her how to properly use the workout machine and she kept telling my that I had a cute ass.”

Youngjae laughs. “Ah, the life of a Planet Fitness employee.” He helps Yugyeom off the floor to pull him back up on the couch. 

“Yeah. It’s a hard life. Anyway, I’m going to take a shower. Keep your affection out of the living room please,” Jackson says as he promptly leaves.

Yugyeom starts laughing. “Sorry, Youngjae.”

“It’s not like it’s your fault Jackson walked in at a bad time.”

“Nah, but vampires have slightly better hearing than humans do. I could’ve heard something… but to be completely honest, the only thing I was paying attention to was your heartbeat.”

“My heartbeat?”

He nods. “Yeah. It’s a relaxing sound to me.”

Youngjae smiles warmly, and then he pulls Yugyeom forward by the collar of his shirt and kisses his nose. “You’re cute,” he says simply before standing up and going to get a glass of water, leaving Yugyeom a little flustered.

He watches Yugyeom as he stands, noticing how broad his shoulders are in the shirt he’s wearing, and how long his legs are. He’s got perfect proportions, really. A thin waist, big hands…

Yugyeom catches him staring and sends him a teasing look. “Am I hot?” _Ever so blunt._

He can’t even form a intelligible response, but Yugyeom doesn’t press for answers. Instead he comes up to him and gives him a last, gentle kiss. “I’m going to go back now so you aren’t up too late, okay?”

“Okay. Text me later.”

“Will do. We can play iMessage games.”

Youngjae grins, waving as Yugyeom makes his dramatic exit. As soon as the door closes, he lets out a big sigh. Youngjae is whipped for him, and he’s fully aware of it.

“Mark and I are going to hang out in two weeks when he comes home from France,” Jackson swoons, holding his phone to his chest. He’s sitting on the sofa with a bowl of ramen that’s probably getting cold because he’s just been texting Mark for the past ten minutes.

Youngjae remembers that Mark said he was going to properly ask Jackson out soon… that’s probably the day he’ll try. He smiles with this secret knowledge. “I’m sure that’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, I miss him even though he’s been gone for three days… I can’t believe it, you know. That I’m _this_ obsessed over a _vampire_ ,” Jackson says dramatically.

“Join the club.”

Jackson laughs. “You ever going to tell your parents about him? I mean, it’s been a couple months since you started dating, right? You seem serious about him.”

Youngjae suddenly remembers that theoretically he’d have to tell his parents about him eventually. “I… actually completely forgot about that. Um, I’m going to cross that bridge when I come to it.”

“Your parents are nice, I’m sure they’d understand.”

“Yeah, they’d be fine with me dating a guy, but dating a vampire? They’d probably think I’m crazy. I _am_ crazy,” Youngjae mutters.

He glances back at his phone, types something out and then glances back at Youngjae. “Are you going somewhere?”

“I’m going to Yugyeom’s, yeah.”

Jackson nods in acknowledgement. “I’ll be here. Waiting for Mark to get back to his hotel so we can FaceTime.”

Youngjae rolls his eyes. “Have fun with that.” He goes back to brushing his hair. 

Lately, he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Yugyeom, so a visit is really needed. Will that successfully stop the constant stream of “Yugyeom” in his brain? Probably not, but it’s worth a try.

He also senses that whatever goes on in that apartment tonight is going to be interesting, to say the least, judging by their last encounter on Youngjae’s sofa. And all the flirtatious texts Youngjae has received from his boyfriend in the last twenty-four hours. And the fact that Jaebeom and Jinyoung are going to be out of the house for a few hours (they’re buying a new toaster and a rug for Jaebeom’s room to cover the blood stains). Putting all that together, Youngjae can conclude that something may happen, and the very thought makes his heart flutter.

And, what do you know? Youngjae’s predictions were very much right.

Because that’s how he ends up dead-asleep in Yugyeom’s bed. 

At some indeterminate time, he wakes up, but just barely. His eyes feel so heavy when he opens them. He’s alone in the bed but he can hear faint voices in the hallway outside the door.

“How long has he been asleep?” That’s Jaebeom.

“Like, eight hours.”

“Yugyeom, you have to let him _rest_ , oh my god, he’s a human!”

“ _He’s_ the one that kept asking-”

Youngjae’s exhaustion overtakes him and he falls asleep again before he can hear the rest of the conversation. 

The next time he wakes up, Yugyeom is there, having just entered the room with a glass of water. He gives him a guilty look. “Morning, Youngjae.”

“Good morning… what time is it?” he asks, rubbing his eyes.

“3pm.”

“Oh my god.” Youngjae’s eyes widen, and it’s then that he remembers the reason why he’s been asleep for so long. Specifically, he remembers Yugyeom telling him that he had never had sex in his vampire form before and promising that he’d be gentle. Which he did achieve, but Youngjae still had never experienced anything like he had last night, and the memories have him blushing. 

“I’m sorry for keeping you up so late,” Yugyeom begins, but Youngjae cuts him off fiercely.

“Don’t you dare apologize.”

Yugyeom starts laughing lightly. He hands Youngjae the glass of water he brought in. “I got a couple texts from Jackson. He was wondering what happened to you. I just told him that you fell asleep and I let you stay here.”

“Good. If you told him anything else I would’ve killed you,” Youngjae jokes as he sips the water. “Although I don’t know if he’ll buy that explanation.”

“He sent me a text that said ‘Oh okay’ with a couple exclamation points and a smiling face emoji, so I think he’s convinced,” Yugyeom says with a laugh. 

“Did Jaebeom and Jinyoung find what they needed?”

Yugyeom brightens, amused. “Oh, yeah, Jaebeom now owns a fancy new toaster that no one but Jinyoung is going to use. They found a rug, too. And we’re lucky because they were out most of the night since Jaebeom had a night shift at the police station and Jinyoung accompanied him. Apparently that isn’t really allowed but I guess exceptions can be made for Jinyoung… and according to Jaebeom he kept getting asked if they were dating.” He tilts his head. “Y’know, Jaebeom refuses to say anything about it, but I actually think Jaebeom likes him. Which would be pretty monumental, considering Jaebeom’s never dated anyone during his three years of vampire-hood. No vampires, and especially not humans. I think he’s just never wanted the risk of getting attached to someone, being the way he is, but… I don’t know. He looks at Jinyoung in a way I’ve never seen him look at anyone else.”

“You think Jinyoung’s woven his way into Jaebeom’s cold, dead heart?” Youngjae jokes.

“Quite literally, yes. If he does have feelings for him, I doubt his mind is a calm place right now,” Yugyeom says thoughtfully. “It would be all the guy would think about it. But I don’t know, it’s just a theory. Sometimes Jaebeom can be a little hard to read.”

Youngjae nods in agreement. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he does, though.” He sets aside his glass and stands up, noticing that he’s wearing Yugyeom’s clothes. Yugyeom’s t-shirt is huge on him; it’s probably only a little baggy on Yugyeom himself.

“Aw, it’s cute on you,” Yugyeom says with a pout. 

Youngjae’s phone buzzes on the nightstand, so he reaches over and picks it up to see the multitudes of unread messages from Jackson. The latest one reading, “When are you coming back, I thought we were going to get bubble tea together today,” with a crying emoji at the end.

Overcome with guilt, Youngjae says, “Jackson and I were going to go out today at four… I should probably go back so I can get dressed and ready without him asking too many questions.”

“Okay,” he says, smiling. “Good luck.”

“Thank you for having me over,” Youngjae says sweetly, kissing Yugyeom on the forehead before he finds his clothes in the room.

He enters the apartment to see Jackson fully dressed and ready to go, tapping his foot impatiently. Sometimes Youngjae feels his life is like a sitcom, and this is one of those moments. 

“I can’t believe you forgot about our bubble tea date,” Jackson states.

“I didn’t! We agreed on four o’clock and it is not four yet,” Youngjae points out. “Let me get dressed and then we can go.”

Jackson pouts. “You slept so fucking long! Are you actually okay? I feel like you might be narcoleptic or something.”

“We were up late playing video games, that’s all. Time got away from me,” Youngjae explains, trying his best to sound convincing despite that being a complete lie. Apparently, he is not good at lying.

Because Jackson narrows his eyes suspiciously. “You didn’t play video games, did you?”

“Jackson-”

“You two fucked.”

“JACKSON!”

He gasps. “So you did! How was it?”

“Jackson _please_ I am not telling you anything!”

“Considering I am also romantically involved with a vampire, I would like to know in case Mark ever asked me out because I would totally say yes but that also would never happen but just for future reference in case I might need to know.”

“Okay, one, that made zero sense, two, do you really think Mark would be that averse to asking you out? And three, yes, you are my best friend in the whole world but I am not giving you details about the sex I just had.”

Jackson’s eyes widen. “You think Mark would date me?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Youngjae asks incredulously. 

“He’s out of my league!”

“Jackson, you are an adult. There are no ‘leagues’ anymore,” he says bluntly. 

Jackson, who clearly has no argument, just reverts back to their previous topic of conversation. “Can you at least tell me if vampire sex is like anything in Twilight?”

“I never got that far in Twilight.”

His jaw drops open. “You never finished the Twilight movies?”

Youngjae laughs. “No, and Yugyeom refuses to watch them with me, they’re that bad.”

“Hm, I guess that’s a no then. Which is a good thing, because Bella nearly died,” Jackson says contemplatively.

Youngjae rolls his eyes in amusement. “Do you want bubble tea or not?”

The next time he finds himself at the Im/Kim apartment, he’s sitting on their couch with his laptop balanced on his lap. The TV’s playing Naked and Afraid (it was on when Youngjae sat down) and Youngjae is trying his best to write the big essay for one of his classes. He came over after trying, and failing, to get things done in his own goddamn house, because Jackson is blasting loud music and doing yoga on the living room floor for god knows what reason.

Yugyeom isn’t even here, he’s out getting blood from the vampire blood bank thing, whatever it’s called. But really, Yugyeom would just be another distraction.

Jaebeom’s sitting at the counter at one of the barstools, on his phone while Jinyoung chops up vegetables on a cutting board in front of him. They’re peacefully quiet, until Youngjae hears Jinyoung make a brief noise of pain.

He sets down the knife, glancing at his finger that’s now bleeding. Jaebeom lets out a small, affectionate laugh as he stands up and grabs a small box out of one of the drawers. “You’re always getting hurt, Jinyoung,” he teases lightly as he gets a bandaid out. He takes Jinyoung’s hand in his and wraps the bandaid gently around his finger. 

“Since when did you have a first-aid kit here?” Jinyoung asks in surprise as he cradles his newly-bandaged finger to his chest.

“Since you moved in. A lot of things changed since you moved in, if you haven’t noticed.” Jaebeom doesn’t elaborate, but his smile on his face remains.

Jinyoung’s expression softens. “You’re too nice to me, you know… you don’t have to feel so obligated to provide for me.”

“I do it because I want to. It’s not work for me. It’s just looking after someone I care about,” Jaebeom tells him in a sweet, honest tone.

Jinyoung stands, not returning to his vegetable-chopping. He looks up at Jaebeom with a brief sense of hesitancy before the look on his face changes. Suddenly, it’s a “now-or-never” expression.

“I like you.”

Jaebeom becomes startled, and nearly speechless. “What?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, because I know I once said that having feelings for a vampire is completely irresponsible, but I really couldn’t help it. Ever since meeting you, you’ve always been so sweet and genuine, and you’re one of the only people in my life who have cared about me enough to make sacrifices for me.” His face is blushing uncontrollably as he rants on, unable to hold Jaebeom’s gaze. “I realized I liked you when I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You’re too kind and funny and attractive for your own good and you’ve got a beautiful mind and I just can’t get you out of my head!”

Meanwhile, Jaebeom’s completely silent, frozen to the spot, his lips frozen into an “o” shape. 

In that moment, Jinyoung panics. “I really just said that, didn’t I?”

Youngjae watches as Jinyoung makes a choked, non-human noise and runs straight out the door. His eyes widen and he instantly sets aside his laptop to run after him. 

By the time he catches up, he’s in Youngjae’s apartment and Jackson, who had been in the middle of a painful-looking yoga pose, gives Jinyoung a “what the fuck is going on” look. 

“Hide me,” Jinyoung exclaims, diving behind the couch.

Really, Youngjae can’t believe what he’s seeing. Park Jinyoung, a man who is very vocal and blunt about his opinion, has run away and is trying to _hide_ after confessing. This is Jaebeom’s impact.

“Jinyoung, what the _hell_ are you doing?” Jackson asks incredulously.

A moment later, a knock comes at the door. Youngjae looks out the peephole to see just who he was expecting- Jaebeom. “It’s Jaebeom.”

“Don’t let him in!” Jinyoung squeaks.

“He probably wants to talk to you! Come answer the door. You can’t avoid him,” Youngjae says.

Jackson is still very confused. “What’s going on?” he asks again but no one spares him an answer.

“I am humiliated and I am never going to be able to look him in the eye again,” Jinyoung says dramatically. 

Youngjae sighs. “Get off the floor. I am opening the door in five seconds.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Youngjae puts his hand threateningly on the door knob.

In seconds, Jinyoung’s at his feet, but he still looks vaguely like he’s going to cry. “Youngjae-”

He opens the door, silencing Jinyoung. 

Jaebeom steps inside, hardly acknowledging anyone in the room but the man that just confessed to him. “Jinyoung, you idiot, why did you run away?”

“Because I’m _embarrassed_ I said all that in front of you!”

“Didn’t you want to hear what I had to say?”

“Not really! I may talk a lot of shit but I’m fragile too-”

Jaebeom cuts him off. “I was never going to reject you.”

He stops, frozen, eyes wide like a deer in headlights.

“I was under the impression that I’d have to say something first, that’s why I was shocked when you beat me to it.” He laughs, breathily. “I’m really fucking relieved that you have feelings for me. God, I’ve spent days wondering whether or not you would like me too… it’s really a curse to be a vampire because I can’t sleep on my thoughts. You came into my life one day and ever since then I’d been wrapped around your finger. And I swore when I became a vampire that I’d never date anyone, human or vampire, as damage control. But then I met you and I knew that keeping that promise would be impossible because you _match_ me. You got in my heart and never left, Jinyoung.” He laughs again. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

Jinyoung looks like he’s experiencing a whirlwind of emotions, but he manages to get his words out. “I felt like it was selfish to like you. Because I didn’t want you to cause you any pain by being in your life like that.”

“There will be pain but it’s not going to mean anything because I like you too much. I can’t undo that,” Jaebeom admits. A smirk appears on his face. “Well, now that that’s out there. What do you say? Would _the_ Park Jinyoung date me? A vampire~”

His face is all red and flushed now. “You’re on thin fucking ice for making me think you were rejecting me, but yes. I’ll date you.”

“What the _fuck_ just happened?” Jackson asks, once again.

“Long story, I’ll explain later,” Youngjae says as they watch the two hug each other. Internally, he’s comparing it to his and Yugyeom’s relationship. They spoke a lot about the consequences of being involved with a vampire in their confessions, and despite this, they still agreed to take the risk and date. And yet, Youngjae and Yugyeom have never touched the subject of what could happen as a result of being together. Or rather, what will happen. It can’t be avoided forever. 

Youngjae will get older and Yugyeom won’t. And it’ll hurt. A lot.

He can’t bear to keep that thought on his mind. 

To distract himself, he goes back to work on his essay because despite the little episode that interrupted him, Jackson is still determined to complete his yoga. Jinyoung and Jaebeom adjust back to normal- after a couple minutes of dancing around one another, Jinyoung’s got Jaebeom cutting the vegetables for him in light of his injured finger.

“Jaebeom, you have the knife upside down,” he scolds. 

The man breaks out into laughter. “I haven’t done this in three years. You’ve got to go easy on me.”

“It is not that hard,” Jinyoung teases. “You can make a very heartwarming confession but you can’t hold a knife properly.”

Yugyeom enters the apartment at that moment, oblivious of anything that has happened in the past half hour. He’s carrying cardboard boxes containing the blood supply, and he sets them down. “Hey guys. Youngjae, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Jackson’s loud,” he explains.

“Ah. Makes sense.” Yugyeom glances over at the two in the kitchen, who have suddenly gone silent. He walks over, nothing but the sound of Jaebeom struggling to make a clean slice with the knife.

“What’s going on with you two?” Yugyeom asks suspiciously. “Did you fight or something?”

Jaebeom and Jinyoung have identical “I don’t know what you’re talking about” expressions, and it makes Youngjae burst out into laughter.

“Oh, Yugyeom, you have no idea what just happened here,” Youngjae says, grinning.

His curiosity grows exponentially at that comment. “Oh my god, they _did_ fight, didn’t they!” He turns back to Jinyoung, poking his arm incessantly. “I want the details. Why did you fight?”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “We didn’t fight, but he almost made me cry.”

Yugyeom’s eyes become huge. He looks at Jaebeom in utter shock. “What the fuck, you made him cry? Of all people?” Eager for his explanation, he demands from Jinyoung, “What happened?”

“I thought he rejected me,” he says, so nonchalantly. 

Confused, he furrows his eyebrows. “Wait, what? Rejected you?”’

“Yeah, I confessed my very vulnerable feelings to him while he just stared at me.” The amusement glitters in Jinyoung’s eyes while Yugyeom seems to be slowly comprehending what went on.

“You rejected him!” Yugyeom screeches at Jaebeom, offended. 

“I _didn’t_ reject him. I was just a little surprised,” Jaebeom corrects, smiling. “I just had to chase him down the hall when he tried to hide in Youngjae’s apartment. Don’t worry. I got my shit together and asked him out.”

Yugyeom smacks him with the sleeve of his hoodie. “Oh, thank fuck because you needed someone in your life to make you happy. Besides, I was about to lecture you for rejecting Jinyoung because he’s the perfect guy to keep you on your toes.” He sighs, smiling happily. “God, I was wondering when you were going to run into someone that was finally going to get through to your heart. Jinyoung, I’ve known him for three years and he’s never so much as had a fling, so you’re definitely going to be a special guy to him.”

“You seem like you had this whole speech planned out,” Jaebeom teases.

“Yeah, because I knew you liked him. It was kind of obvious. You two have a weird way of flirting,” Yugyeom concludes. “Anyway, I’m proud of you. Congrats for being a man and being honest about your feelings. Also, Jinyoung… _you ran away?_ ”

“Stop! I was embarrassed,” Jinyoung whines. 

“Your attraction to Jaebeom eroded away your confident exterior~”

“You’re so dramatic!”

Youngjae laughs as he calls to Yugyeom. “They just became a thing a few minutes ago, let them be.” He waves his hand. “Come sit with me and keep me company while I write about mitosis.”

He eagerly takes the opportunity and jumps over the back of the couch to sit beside him. “I’d help you, but biology is _also_ not a subject I’m good at. Especially considering most of it doesn’t apply to me anymore. We exist to defy nature.”

Youngjae feels like it’s back in the early days of their friendship before they started dating, when Yugyeom would provide him emotional support through his college experience. Those are warm memories. 

These are the types of memories he wants to keep forever and never lose to time. He knows the world doesn’t work that way, but it’s his fantasy that he prefers to keep.

Youngjae is taking a shower on a Saturday night when his phone starts ringing from where he set it on the sink. Alarmed (because hardly anyone calls him), he turns off the water and picks up his phone after scrambling to dry off his hands. “I’m in the shower, Jackson, are you okay?” he demands.

“Ooo, scandalous.”

“Jackson! What’s going on that you needed to call me?”

“Mark asked me out!” he screeches with excitement. So loud that Youngjae had to move the phone away from his ear. “He told me he wanted to be in an actual relationship because apparently I’m a really cute and genuine person and that he’s willing to get to know me better and he fucking invited me on his trip to China in two weeks!”

Youngjae is mildly surprised that Mark actually managed to ask him, judging by how nervous he had been earlier. “Wow, that sounds exciting. Did you say yes?”

“Of fucking course, I wouldn’t pass up a trip with my new boyfriend. Who do you think I am?”

He laughs. “Did your date end already?”

“No, why?”

“Where are you?!”

“I’m in the bathroom of this restaurant.”

“Oh my god Jackson go back out and talk to your boyfriend. He’s going to think you ditched him,” Youngjae scolds.

“Right, right. I’ll go now. See you later.” He hangs up abruptly, leaving Youngjae cold and dripping water in his shower. 

As he turns the shower back on, he thinks about how funny it is that his closest friends are dating vampires. This isn’t some cheesy supernatural romance novel where vampires have some sort of alluring, seduction effect on humans. And yet, here they are, dating dumbasses who also happen to be vampires.

Youngjae’s life did a 180 when he heard the scream that night, but is he complaining? No.

The look on Jackson’s face when he comes back to the apartment is enough to make his heart burst. He’s never been so happy about a guy before, and Youngjae’s glad he’s able to have that moment.

Sure, he, Jackson, and Jinyoung are kind of screwed, because everyone’s well aware that vampire and human relationships don’t end well. But they’re all playing the “ignorance is bliss” card right now. And it’s working, so why stop?

Mark visits the Im/Kim/Park apartment with Bambam in tow a couple days later. The new vampire seems to be really improving in self-control. In a way, he reminds Youngjae of Yugyeom. Bright and happy, sometimes has an attitude. Mark really saved the right guy.

“When are you going to China?” Jaebeom asks curiously. “You’ve been here quite a while.”

Mark nods, smiling. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to be with Jackson as much as possible. He agreed to come with me, anyway, so… I’m really excited about that.” He glances at Youngjae, who’s sitting at the kitchen counter with a bowl of cereal. “I’m sorry for stealing your roommate for a few weeks.”

“It’s okay, I think he needs it,” Youngjae jokes. “He can’t be spending all his time at Planet Fitness.”

“I don’t think there’s been a time where I haven’t seen you at this apartment since they moved in,” Mark comments with a huge laugh. “Maybe I should’ve seen it coming that you and Yugyeom would date. Honestly, I find it very cute that he fell for his human neighbor in his apartment complex. It’s like the beginning of a romance movie.”

“Don’t compare our lives to romance movies in front of Jinyoung,” Jaebeom warns. “He’s very adamant that all of our lives are normal. He _will_ argue with you.”

Mark rolls his eyes. “It’s also very fitting you’re dating the outspoken one. I was wondering when you were going warm up to someone.” He pauses. “Anyway, I came here for a reason. Some news in the vampire community.”

Yugyeom walks in at that moment, plopping down at the stool beside Youngjae. “Vampire news?”

“Yes. It’s actually quite serious. According to the rumor, there’s a vampire-borne disease going around in the city that causes increased thirst and lowered self-control,” Mark explains. “Apparently, it’s transferred by sharing blood that someone infected has drank from but also just, touching surfaces that an infected person touch. Like, it’s easily transmittable.”

Jaebeom furrows his eyebrows. “Where’d you hear this from?”

“Some of my vampire friends.”

“How do you know they didn’t have it?”

Mark sighs. “What, are you paranoid now that I have it? I don’t think that’s what we need to worry about. If a good number of the vampires that live in this city catch the disease, then that could cause absolute chaos. A lot of unnecessary violence towards humans, vampires will be caught, the list goes on.”

Jaebeom lets out a heavy sigh as he goes to get the Clorox wipes to clean the counter Mark just touched. “Yeah, that’s exactly what we don’t need right now.” He looks at Youngjae. “I’m going to tell Jinyoung this too, but be careful when you’re outside, in light of this news. Try to have Yugyeom with you, if you can. Or even me. I just don’t want anyone falling victim to the consequences of this disease.”

“Has there ever been an outbreak like this?” Youngjae asks.

“Not in my lifetime,” Mark answers, “but my vampire life is still a short one. There’s many, many other vampires older than me who have experienced things like this. Needless to say, those times weren’t pretty.”

“And it’s not violence between vampires right, just towards humans?” Yugyeom clarifies. 

Mark nods. “Aggression and thirst towards humans. So yeah, all you humans should keep your guards up when you’re alone. Just to be safe, until the disease runs it course and fades out.”

Youngjae doesn’t feel worried. He doesn’t interact with any vampires besides Jaebeom, Yugyeom, and Mark, so he should be fine. 

But of course, not everything goes as planned.

It starts on a night when Youngjae is doing the dishes at Yugyeom’s apartment. It’s not at all a hard task because he and Jinyoung are the only ones that use them, and they alternate doing them. But he’s in a hurry because Yugyeom’s waiting in his bedroom to play PUBG. 

He feels a sting when he grabs one of the utensils, only to realize seconds later its one of the sharper knives and he grabbed it with considerable force on the blade side. He pulls his hand away and stares at the blood that’s dripping at an alarming pace from his hand.

The only other person in the room is Jaebeom, who has been sweeping the floor.

“Jaebeom, where are the bandages kept?” he asks, glancing through the kitchen drawers.

“Um, I…” He doesn’t give a complete response as he sways on his feet a little, eyebrows furrowed. He swallows nervously, his eyes glued on the blood coming from Youngjae’s palm.

Then, all of a sudden, he’s in action, taking the first aid kit from the correct drawer and wrapping a bandage quickly but tightly around Youngjae’s hand. Once it’s secured, Jaebeom manages to breathe.

Youngjae gives him a weird look. “Are you okay?”

“I just… your bleeding triggered my thirst response. Which is really weird for me… that threw me off guard.” He shakes his head as if to rid himself from what just happened. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Youngjae.”

“Does bleeding normally trigger that?”

“Yes, but usually I don’t even have to work to suppress it, it’s just natural that I don’t get worked up. But this time I had to _stop_ myself,” Jaebeom mumbles, confused. 

Suddenly, he remembers what Mark told them about earlier. “The disease! Jaebeom, the vampire disease, do you think you have it?”

“Fuck,” he swears under his breath. “You’re probably right. I don’t know how I could’ve gotten it unless I encountered someone on the job that was a vampire, or Mark had it, but he doesn’t have any symptoms…”

Youngjae shrugs. “All it takes it touching surfaces touched by another infected vampire,” he recalls, repeating Mark’s words. 

“What’s going on?” Jinyoung asks as he walks into the room, wearing glasses with his hair that is messy from sleep. 

“I might have caught the vampire disease Mark told us about,” he says with a sigh. “Youngjae started bleeding and it threw off my reaction to it. So… just try not to get hurt, okay? It’s really not that bad. I’m fine right now, with both of you in the room, so it really isn’t a danger.”

Jinyoung tilts his head. “Do you think it could get worse, though?”

He shrugs, looking stressed despite how much he appears not to be. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

Youngjae really does not like seeing Jaebeom like this. He’s nervous and jittery and he’s been avoiding physically touching Jinyoung in any way, which has got Jinyoung a little sad, too.

“I’m sorry, Jinyoung,” he says, guilt mixed into his tone as he looks down at him. “I don’t want to risk hurting you.”

“You won’t hurt me by holding my hand,” Jinyoung counters. “I get you care about my safety but sometimes I just want a hug from my boyfriend.”

Jaebeom lets out a sigh of distress. “Okay, wait. Let’s call Mark.” He takes out his phone and begins finding his number. Once he picks up, he says, “Hey Mark, do you by chance know how long the disease lasts? Asking for a friend?”

“Dude, which of your friends caught it?”

“Answer the question please.”

“I’ve been hearing anywhere from six days to two weeks before the symptoms calm down,” Mark tells him. “But a person could still be a little contagious after that.”

Jaebeom nods, until he freezes, having come upon a realization. “Shit,” he hisses.

“What!? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong, just stubbed my toe-”

Jinyoung takes the phone out of Jaebeom’s hand and puts it up to his ear. “Jaebeom’s got the disease and we’re just wondering how long he’ll be like this because he won’t touch me.”

Mark snorts. “Well, all I’d say is wait it out. And make sure to clean your surfaces around the house so Yugyeom doesn’t catch it too.”

“That’s the problem,” Jaebeom says, loud enough for Mark to hear on the other end. “We haven’t been doing that, so Yugyeom’s more than likely going to get it too. Fuck, I feel like I just gave my newborn a horrible disease.” 

Jinyoung frowns, patting Jaebeom’s shoulder reassuringly. “Yugyeom’s not a baby. He’ll be able to handle it.”

“I raised him.”

“Jinyoung, if it gets any worse,” Mark begins, “like to the point where he gets triggered by you being in the same room as him, I’d recommend you two live separately. Maybe you could stay with Youngjae and Jackson for a while, if need be.”

Judging by his face, Jinyoung doesn’t like the sound of it, as he’s frowning and looks disappointed. “It might not get to that, though. Thanks for the help, Mark. Bye.” He hangs up and gives the phone back to Jaebeom. “I’m not leaving, sorry.”

Youngjae laughs internally at Jinyoung’s determination.

“I admire that you want to stay here with me, but if it gets to the point where I could kill you, I’m kicking you out,” Jaebeom tells him bluntly.

Jinyoung gives him a “whatever you say” look and sits down on the couch besides Youngjae. “Looks like you might be in my boat soon,” he mutters.

“I’m trying not to think about it, honestly. Yugyeom becoming infected and getting aggressive like that is going to damage his self-esteem when it comes to his self-control and then it’s going to take him forever to want to touch me again,” Youngjae says with a big sigh. “When we first met he wouldn’t stand within six feet of me.”

Jinyoung looks at him with sympathy. “Yeah. But I hope it doesn’t happen that Jaebeom has to take time off of his job because of this. He’s going to get antsy.”

“Oh god, yeah, all his coworkers are human, aren’t they?” Youngjae frowns. “Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do but wait.”

For the sake of the peace in his life, he hopes Jaebeom’s experience with this disease is mild and leaves quickly.

Youngjae laughs so hard his stomach is in pain, at the smeared whipped cream on Yugyeom’s face. He accidentally inhales it and it makes Youngjae laugh even harder, and then Yugyeom’s concerned that he can’t breathe and Youngjae has to reassure him that he is not about to die because of him.

“You’re such an idiot,” Youngjae says warmly, in between breaths. “I can’t die from laughing too hard.”

Yugyeom’s arm is wrapped around Youngjae, trying to help him properly stand up, as he’s keeled over from laughing. “You looked like you were struggling!” 

“You two okay in here?” Jackson asks as he walks in the room with his luggage in hand. He’s been slowly packing for his multiple week vacation with Mark, and that also includes random shit he’s left lying around in their living room.

“We’re making food!” Youngjae calls out happily. “We’re all having dinner at Yugyeom’s. ‘All’ being Jinyoung and I who are eating. Do you wanna come?”

Jackson shrugs. “Sure, why not. Sounds like an entertaining night.” He steps out of the room for a moment to grab something while Youngjae continues with the pie they’re making.

He places a spoon with the whipped cream on it in his mouth, his eyes widening. “Mm! It’s actually good.”

“I wanna taste.” Yugyeom dips his thumb in the bowl and then traces it over Youngjae’s bottom lip before pulling him closer by the back of his neck and kissing him. 

Youngjae’s a bit taken aback but he smiles playfully into the kiss, dropping the wooden spoon and throwing his arms around Yugyeom’s neck. 

For a moment, there isn’t a care in the world for Youngjae except for the feeling of Yugyeom’s lips.

Jackson walks in the next second. “When will you two ever learn?” he jokes, but he’s hardly offended. 

“Are you ready to go?” Youngjae asks Jackson. “We’re going to head over in ten minutes.”

“Go first without me, I want to finish up packing first.”

With that, Youngjae and Yugyeom fuck around in the kitchen for another ten minutes before they grab the food they’ve prepared and walk down the hall to the other apartment Youngjae spends a majority of his time at.

Immediately upon walking in, the two set down their food, but Yugyeom notices something off about the atmosphere immediately. Glancing to the side, he and Youngjae see the same thing: Jinyoung pressed up against the wall by Jaebeom, his neck hidden by Jaebeom’s face. Jinyoung’s eyes are closing and Youngjae starts panicking when he sees a glimpse of tell-tale red blood dripping down. Jaebeom’s drinking from him.

“Jaebeom, what the fuck!” Yugyeom exclaims with vigor. He strides over and pulls Jaebeom away by his shoulders. Jinyoung’s blood is smudged near his lips, and Youngjae can see the inflamed bite marks on the other’s neck.

Jaebeom looks beyond out of it. He just wobbles on his feet as Yugyeom asks, “What are you fucking doing?” and shaking him, as if to snap him out of it.

Jinyoung, who seems to be conscious but dizzy, brings a hand to his neck, where the blood drips down slowly. He lowers his palm to look at the red color that has stained it.

“Are you okay, Jinyoung?” Youngjae asks, alarmed.

“Just a little lightheaded,” he murmurs. 

“I thought you two were making out or something till I saw the blood…”

“Nah, he hasn’t even kissed me yet… we wouldn’t be making out,” Jinyoung says, still a little dazed judging by the speed at which he speaks. “I… let him bite me.”

Yugyeom glares at him. “Okay, Jinyoung, you’re an idiot.” Then he focuses his attention to Jaebeom, who seems to be regaining control and comprehension. 

He sees Jinyoung, at the state he’s in, and melts a little. “God, fuck, wait-”

“You drank from him,” Yugyeom informs him. “And quite a lot of it, because he’s dizzy and can hardly stand up straight.”

Jaebeom looks absolutely pained. “Jinyoung, I’m sorry…”

“I let you. It’s my fault,” he says quietly.

“It is completely my fault,” Jaebeom argues. He’s wiping the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand and withering inside. “You need to go. You have to move in with Youngjae. Just for a couple days, till I’m okay. Please?”

“I’m taking him,” Youngjae says decisively. “He doesn’t get to agree or disagree.” He begins cleaning off Jinyoung’s neck with a wet towel. “We can have dinner in my apartment so we can boost your blood sugar a little bit.”

Yugyeom, meanwhile, deals with Jaebeom, talking with him about what happened as he had the urge to drink from Jinyoung. “I was standing close to him, which was the first mistake. Then I had the overwhelming urge of thirst… through the haze I actually asked him if I could and I think him agreeing is what pushed me over the edge.” He exhales shakily. “I’m glad you got here when you did.”

“You wouldn’t actually hurt Jinyoung,” Yugyeom says instantly to comfort him. “I know you’re just worrying over whether or not you would’ve killed him, but don’t think about that. You wouldn’t have badly hurt him.” 

Youngjae knows those words are mostly just to comfort him. The disease takes over the mind and suspends emotion. It doesn’t care who Jaebeom loves. 

Back at the apartment, Jackson helps Youngjae in taking care of Jinyoung, making sure he’s moving slowly and getting water into his system. Yugyeom stays behind to help Jaebeom calm down and relax.

Youngjae really, _really_ hopes Yugyeom doesn’t catch it.

“Youngjae, I am going to miss you so fucking much,” Jackson declares after arranging his minimal luggage near the door. 

“I’ll miss you too.” His heart aches a little, thinking about not having Jackson to wake him up in the middle of the night to talk about random topics that plague him, or not having him breaking their appliances, or not having him to talk out his problems with, or not having him updating him on the lives of the people he’s training at the gym. Of course, some of these things can be accomplished over video call, and the trip is only for a few weeks, but Youngjae can’t help but miss him already.

They hug each other tightly as Jaebeom walks in to start putting the luggage into the car. Luckily, Jaebeom has made a stellar recovery over the past week. They’ve done a couple test-runs involving Jinyoung. In other words, they had Jinyoung stand closer and closer to Jaebeom to make sure he could handle it, and he even gave himself a paper cut to make sure he’s fine. After he reported feeling back to his normal self again, the morale in the house went up considerably and he was cleared to be the one driving Jackson to the airport.

They’re taking three different cars, mostly because Mark has some things to do before heading to the airport, so Yugyeom will be on the road with him shortly after Jaebeom and Jackson go. Jinyoung and Youngjae are driving a separate car solely because Jaebeom will need to go straight to the police station after dropping him off, and Jinyoung and Youngjae still wanted to see Jackson off. 

Jackson blows a goodbye kiss to their living room dramatically before he and Youngjae follow Jaebeom out. 

The drive begins, Jaebeom and Jackson in the car in front of them, with Jackson driving (he insisted). Youngjae follows, having been deemed the better driver between him and Jinyoung. 

“Is life with Jaebeom back to normal?” Youngjae asks curiously.

He nods in confirmation, a bright little smile on his face. “Yup. He’s letting me hug him now and he’ll hold my hand when we’re watching his shitty TV shows together.” He pauses. “Oh, and Yugyeom seems to be doing fine.”

Recently, Yugyeom has reported feeling a little on-edge when the humans are around. It’s nothing to be too concerned about right now, but he’s been trying to keep some physical distance between Youngjae and himself after seeing what happened with Jaebeom. They all think he has the beginnings of the disease; it’s just not in full force yet.

It’s fortunate that Mark scheduled the flight at a time of night when the highways are virtually empty. There’s no one else on the road except the two cars and a semi-truck some distance ahead of them.

So Youngjae’s relaxed. Jinyoung’s put something on the radio and is laying back in his seat, looking like he’s about to fall asleep. Youngjae’s only stress on the mind is seeing Jackson off at the airport. He doesn’t really want-

Jinyoung’s scream jolts him from his reverie and in seconds, he’s pressing on the brake and swerving to the side of the road, all of his instincts kicking in at the loud noises and sights clouding his senses.

He’s panting and his heart is beating out of his chest as he replays what just happened. The semi-truck lost control and the car with Jackson and Jaebeom inside had crashed, at very high speeds, into the side of it.

Jinyoung is frozen with fear and gripping the door of the car. He looks at Youngjae once and they have the same concern mirrored on each other’s faces. _Jackson and Jaebeom are inside of that car_. It’s not like Jaebeom’s vampire-hood gives him a free pass. People are easily decapitated in car accidents and both Jinyoung and Youngjae have instantly comprehended that.

The brief moment of being able to think passes them by, and then Youngjae is unlocking the door and running out onto the road, followed closely by Jinyoung. 

The side of the crushed car closest to them is the passenger. Jinyoung yanks the door open and it falls off its hinges. Tears are streaming down his face as he breathes a sigh of relief. “Jaebeom,” he murmurs, taking his hand firmly and desperately trying to drag him out of the disaster. 

As soon as he’s free, Jaebeom hugs Jinyoung so tightly, the emotion portrayed in how hard he grips Jinyoung’s jacket. But not a second later, they break away to address the other, larger problem at hand. 

Youngjae sees instantly that Jackson is unconscious in the driver’s seat, covered in a sheet of broken glass. He feels tears coming on, but he manages to keep himself together. Jaebeom pushes past him and opens the door with a bit of force. The car may have been crushed but luckily, getting the door open is not too hard.

Jaebeom gently removes him from the driver’s seat, lowering him onto the ground and resting his head in Youngjae’s lap. 

His heart falls when he notices the stream of blood coming from a deep cut on his head, and another staining his shirt on his chest. The color of the blood makes Youngjae nauseated and dizzy. The more he looks at Jackson the more he finds spots of blood. On his leg. On his stomach.

It begins sliding off his skin and pooling below him, so quickly.

“Fuck,” Jaebeom swears, trying to address the most serious cut, on his head. “He’s losing so much blood.”

Jinyoung’s wrapping fabric around Jackson’s thigh, but it starts soaking through instantly. Youngjae can’t even look. The tears are falling to his cheeks, now, uncontrollably.

Jaebeom takes Jackson’s wrist to feel for his pulse, and the results probably aren’t what he hoped, because he’s swearing again. “Fucking hell.”

“Don’t… don’t tell me he’s dying,” Youngjae says shakily. The night air is so cold and windy and his shoulders are shaking and he’s got Jackson’s hand in a death grip.

He doesn’t answer him, instead continuing to apply pressure to Jackson’s array of injuries in desperate attempts to stop the blood from flowing.

“Jaebeom!” he cries out. “Is he dying?”

“Hold his head, please.”

Youngjae’s sobbing echoes out over the highway, but no one else can hear it but them. “He’s not going to die! He can’t die!”

Jaebeom’s biting his lip hard, overwhelmed by Youngjae’s crying.

“You can’t let him die,” Youngjae pleads, his vision clouded by the hot tears in front of his eyes. Dizziness overtakes him and he can’t say much except begging for Jackson’s life.

“You have to save him. You have to save him, please…” Youngjae’s fingernails are digging into the skin of Jackson’s wrist. “Please save him…”

Through the sound of his own crying, he can hardly hear when Jaebeom says, “Move out of the way.”

“No! I’m not leaving him here!” he yells out.

“Trust me, move,” Jaebeom demands. 

Shaken by the tone of Jaebeom’s voice, he scoots back a few inches, his sobbing yet to cease.

But before his eyes, Jaebeom’s leaning over. He catches a glimpse of Jaebeom’s fangs before they’re buried in Jackson’s neck. 

Shocked, Youngjae watches as the cuts on his skin begin to heal at such a pace that it seems like the world was put on fast-forward. Jackson’s skin pales at the same rate and he can hardly believe what’s happening.

He’s still got Jackson’s hand in his own, and he nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels his fingers twitch.

Jaebeom pulls away and the tell-tale bite marks on Jackson’s neck tell the entire story. Youngjae’s heart beats quicker as he looks back at Jackson’s face, anticipating something to happen. He’s begging internally for something to happen.

The next moment, Jackson’s eyes open slowly. The first thing he sees is Youngjae.

“Youngjae… why are you crying?” he mumbles.

“Won’t he need to drink?” Jinyoung asks Jaebeom, wide-eyed and tense.

“It’ll take a few minutes before his body is fully adjusted. He wasn’t hungry as a human, so he’s not going to be as hungry now. In any case,” Jaebeom says, standing up, “I’ve got to get him some blood so he doesn’t act out.” He starts walking in the direction of the semi-truck.

“Youngjae, don’t cry,” Jackson says, shifting into a sitting position as he reaches out to brush his fingers against Youngjae’s cheek. When he touches his skin, he jumps, retracting his hand immediately. “Your skin is so hot!”

Youngjae’s lower lip is wobbling and he can’t tell if it’s from happiness or just from the loss of Jackson’s human life. “Jackson…”

He glances down at his body and startles when he sees his blood-soaked clothes and again when he accidentally puts his hand in the pool of blood gathered around his body. 

“Jackson, you got in a car accident and you were really badly hurt,” he explains, still gripping one of Jackson’s hands tightly. “You were bleeding a lot. But Jaebeom saved you… he turned you.”

Jackson freezes, as if to comprehend the words that just met his ears. He puts a hand over his own heart, his lips formed in an “o” as he waits for the heartbeat that never comes. “Is… that why you’re so warm?”

“Yes. You’re a vampire now.”

Youngjae hardly hears it, but Jinyoung is on a phone call with Mark. “Mark, we’re on the highway. There… was an accident… Mark, stop. Jaebeom decided to turn him. He’s okay now. Youngjae is talking to him.”

Youngjae combs his hands through Jackson’s hair. “I hope you’re okay with this. With being a vampire. I hope we didn’t make a mistake. I… I was begging Jaebeom to keep you alive.”

“Youngjae, I’m okay. Like, this is all a lot to take in, but I’m not mad.” Jackson looks him fiercely in the eye. “Really. Jaebeom and Yugyeom and Mark are all vampires too and their lives are far from ruined. I’ll be okay.”

Jinyoung pulls Youngjae away from Jackson with one hand. “Mark says you shouldn’t be near him right now. He’s going to need to drink in a few minutes and he will not have any control at all.”

He lets himself be led away, reluctantly. He watches as Jaebeom’s dragging the dead body from the semi-truck over. “There were bottles all over the floor,” he says, and it is enough of an explanation. He kneels down beside Jackson. “This should be enough blood to satiate you, okay? Your thirst will be uncontrollable. You’ll feel it.”

To Jinyoung, Youngjae mentions, “Jaebeom will be good at helping him… he told me about how he took care of Yugyeom in the same way.”

He nods. “I’m not surprised Jaebeom did that for him. I know turning someone is a big deal, but… that man is really a sweetheart. He knows how much Jackson would’ve wanted to continue to live.”

“Jaebeom nearly turned you, you know,” Youngjae says. “When you were bleeding out in his arms, he was debating with himself about whether or not to turn you. Ultimately, he decided that you were likely to live. He didn’t want to ruin your life.”

Jinyoung’s speechless for a few seconds. “He almost turned me?”

“Yes.”

“... I guess he made a good judgement call in not doing that… I lived, after all… but damn. My life would be different if I were a vampire right now,” he murmurs, dazed at the thought.

They watch from many, many feet away as Jackson drinks from the dead body under Jaebeom’s supervision. “Jaebeom would have you staying with him, anyway.”

“Yeah.” Jinyoung laughs lightly. “I guess that’s true.”

Jaebeom strolls over to Jinyoung. “You talked to Mark?”

“Yeah, he cancelled the flight and he’ll be here with Yugyeom in like, five minutes,” Jinyoung informs him. “So you and Jackson can take the car back with him. Youngjae and I will drive back in this one.” He pauses, glancing worriedly at the scene in front of them. “How are you going to explain this?”

Jaebeom just smiles. “Hey. I’m a cop. I can handle it. According to me, I’m the only passenger in the vehicle, and I’m going to replace the body in the car, and if anything’s strange in the autopsy, then I can just fix it.”

“Ah, Im Jaebeom, saving us all from the criminal lifestyle once more,” Jinyoung teases, squeezing his arm. “I’m proud of you.”

“Why?”

“You were under a lot of pressure and somehow you still made the right decision.”

Jaebeom laughs nervously, embarrassed by Jinyoung’s praise. “I mean, there’s no way to judge that it’s the right-”

A car pulls up, putting on the brake fast, and then, in seconds, Jackson and Mark are holding each other tight like they’d never want to let go. For a moment, Youngjae is jealous, simply because Mark can be held by him without any danger. But to see their reunion is heartwarming. 

Jaebeom quickly herds them back to the car. “I’ll pick up Jackson from your place later, just get out of here before anyone shows up and sees,” he instructs.

So Youngjae and Jinyoung are on the road again, but they’re not going to go far, because they’ll come back to “pick Jaebeom up from the accident.”

The car ride makes Jinyoung thoughtful. “I wonder if he’ll have Jackson move into the apartment.”

“If he does that, you’d probably have to move out,” Youngjae reasons with a little smile. “That’s okay, there’ll be an empty spot with me.”

“Unless Mark takes him in.”

“He’s already got Bambam,” he points out. “Yugyeom’s fully self-capable, so Jaebeom can handle being Jackson’s vampire-mentor for a while.”

Jinyoung nods. “True.”

“God, I’m not going to be able to stand not being around Jackson for a while,” Youngjae whines. “He’s my best friend. He just had to go and basically die.”

“At least he’s here and not dead,” Jinyoung says. 

“Yeah. I’m thankful for that.” Really, Jackson becoming a vampire will have no effect on him at all after the initial period where he’s to be wary around humans. Youngjae’s been around vampires so often for the past few months that it isn’t going to bother him. He’s _dating_ a vampire.

Jinyoung receives a call from Jaebeom soon after, and he puts it on speaker. “Hey Jinyoung, you can come get me now. The police came and luckily it’s two of the guys that I’m closest with at the job. They’re saying it’s a miracle I’m uninjured and everything. But, good news, no one’s suspicious of anything.”

“Jaebeom does it again,” Jinyoung jokes. “Okay, we’re going to drive over now. We’ll be there in five minutes.”

“Drive safely.”

It feels strange for Youngjae to be walking into his own apartment without Jackson there. But at least he’s not completely alone, as he has Jinyoung’s company. He had quickly gathered his things and brought them over, already dressed in pajamas. He insists upon sleeping on the sofa until Jackson’s sheets can be washed. Youngjae doesn’t argue with him.

As he’s brushing his teeth, he gets a text from Jackson. “Youngjae I miss youuu Jaebeom says I’ll be able to at least see you in a couple days. I might text you if I get bored because I won’t be sleeping anymore lol.” And then, “But it’s not all bad, Mark seems pretty happy. He mentioned how we can date without worrying about anything, which is very nice. Might have to quit Planet Fitness though lol.”

Youngjae is glad that Jackson has incurred no trauma and is coping nicely with the turn of events. Jackson has always been a flexible person.

Yugyeom knocks at the door five minutes later, and Youngjae goes to answer it. The boy has a tired look in his eyes, which is unusual, because his are normally so bright. “Are you doing okay?” he asks Youngjae. “I know the accident must have been traumatic for you…”

“He didn’t die, so I’m happy,” Youngjae says.

He manages a smile. “You always can be so positive. I’m jealous.”

“Is something bothering you?”

“Yeah… I’m just, I know we’ve been avoiding this topic, probably for good reason, but I want to talk about it,” Yugyeom begins, hesitantly.

Youngjae knows what he’s talking about. “Oh.”

“I’m frozen at the age of twenty-two, Youngjae. I’m not going to get any older. You’re going to continue to age without me, even though we were born a year apart. And you might want a family, as you get older, which you can’t have with me. You’re going to die one day and I can’t die with you.”

Youngjae doesn’t know what to say, how to think, what conclusion to come to. 

“I don’t know how to cope with it,” Yugyeom says, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

Youngjae blinks, glancing down at the floor. “I really enjoy being with you and dating you. I’d never take back that decision too. We’ve dated for quite a while, so I hope you know that. I don’t think that I’ll ever be unhappy with you. If the time comes that I am, if that were to ever happen, we can address that then. But not now. I don’t think we should have to break up now because the relationship might not last later. Because right now, in this moment, I love you, Yugyeom, and I don’t want to throw this away. I don’t want to leave you.”

Yugyeom’s crying so softly he can’t even hear him. He’s gripping Youngjae’s hands so tightly it almost hurts. His eyes are watering and the lights of the room reflect in the tears. “I love you. I love you too, fuck.” He lifts Youngjae into a tight hug. “We’ll get there when we get there, right?”

“Right,” Youngjae confirms. 

It feels nice to have talked about this with him, and his heart’s fluttering from the “I love you” he’s finally gotten to here. There’s always that lingering reminder, though, the pain will come eventually. Not now, but eventually. And it can’t be stopped.

A few days later and Youngjae still hasn’t been able to see Jackson. Or Yugyeom, for that matter, as Jaebeom has communicated that the disease is worsening in him and it wouldn’t be wise to go and see him right now. His heart aches to just see his boyfriend. And he can tell Jinyoung has a similar type of feeling.

He’s sitting, dejected, with a bowl of cereal in his lap. “It’s been a week and I have not seen my boyfriend that lives across the fucking hall. It’s torture, really. Like I know plenty of relationships that it would be normal to not see the other for a week. But when the guy lives _down the hall_ , it’s a new level of frustrating. Especially since I was living with him.” He sighs. “I feel so dramatic. Maybe I am the Bella Swan of my own life.”

“Bella Swan curled up in a ball in the forest and cried when Edward left her,” Youngjae reminds him. “You are just sad that you haven’t seen Jaebeom recently. Trust me, this is not the same.”

“Thank you for the reality check.”

“I don’t understand why he can’t just come over and see you, though.”

Jinyoung shrugs. “He’s too busy with Jackson. He texted me and told me that the first few days are the ones that you have to be the most careful.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Youngjae won’t complain about the situation, though, because it’s bringing him closer to Jinyoung. Who is, at this point, his only human friend in the goddamn apartment.

The next few days go on similarly, until Jaebeom texts Jinyoung that they can come and stop by because Jackson wants to see Youngjae and they’re all supervising him, anyway.

So Jinyoung and Youngjae are at the front door in ten minutes, all dressed and happy to see the friends that they haven’t seen in a while. 

Jackson’s sitting on the sofa in their living room when he walks in, and the biggest smile comes to his face. “Youngjae!” he squeals, shaking his hands. “I’d come over and hug you but Jaebeom said that is not allowed.”

“Soon,” Youngjae promises, grinning. “Hugging Jinyoung is not the same.” 

Jinyoung takes no offense, because he’s busy giving Jaebeom a big hug on the other side of the room.

“How is your replacement roommate?” Jackson asks with a laugh.

“Oh, much less chaotic than you, but I miss the chaos, not going to lie.” He wishes he could have Jackson over to his house, just to get some semblance of normalcy. “Has Mark been over lately?”

Jackson nods. “Yup, he’s been over a couple times. He’s more touchy with me now that I’m a vampire. Not complaining~”

Jaebeom rolls his eyes. “I turn you so that you can continue to live and your most exciting benefit is that Mark finds you _slightly_ more attractive. Figures,” he jokes.

“Is that a thing though? That vampires find other vampires hotter?” Jackson asks incredulously.

“Um, not really… especially considering two of us here are dating humans. But Mark’s probably just comfortable around you because he knows he can’t kill you,” Jaebeom says.

“I guess that’s a plus.”

Youngjae snorts. “Jackson, you’re an idiot.”

He sits up straighter in his seat, brightening visibly. “Hey, do you wanna come see something! I redecorated Jaebeom’s room a little. I got bored and he said I could.”

“He really needs to adjust to being awake for 24 hours,” Jaebeom mutters as he passes by.

Youngjae follows Jackson into the bedroom, which now has an addition of a rug in front of the closet, and on the dresser, a constructed tree-looking object that was probably made of plastic bottles.

“I found a DIY online,” he explains. “Yugyeom and Jaebeom were very entertained at how active I was, but really, staying awake all night is a pain in the ass, you know? You’ve always got to keep your mind occupied.”

Youngjae nods, understanding. “That must be rough.”

Jackson looks back at him and tilts his head. He seems fascinated. “I can feel the heat radiating off of you.” He brings his hand to Youngjae’s forehead, and then his cheek. “You’re so warm…”

It must be strange, one day having a pulse and blood running through you and the next, having a body that is a cold shell. But Jackson’s attention seems like more than curiosity. The look in his eye flickers for a moment and the realization sends a chill down Youngjae’s spine. “Jackson…”

The searing pain that comes next numbs his senses and he can’t hear anything but his own scream and the sound of blood pumping in his ears. He can feel the hot blood staining his shirt on his shoulder as Jackson digs his teeth into his neck. It’s impossible to have any coherent thoughts above the pain.

Loud footsteps enter, and swearing. It’s Jaebeom. He’s seen in the corner of Youngjae’s vision as he tries to pull Jackson off of him but he’s got a strong grip on Youngjae’s shoulders. 

He’s lost so much blood already; he can tell by how he hears it pooling onto the ground. Jackson’s bite must’ve been vicious. 

Jaebeom finally manages to pry Jackson away and Youngjae collapses, luckily he’s caught by Yugyeom, who may have just now entered the room. 

He can hear Jaebeom struggling to keep the thirst-driven vampire at bay. “Jinyoung, get out of here!” he’s calling out into the hallway, and then panic rises in his voice. “Yugyeom wait! You can’t be in here, the disease! You’re going to kill him!”

Youngjae’s consciousness is fading in and out. He can hardly feel Yugyeom shaking him and cradling his head. Jaebeom’s screaming is just a background noise. The next moment, he can hear it clear as day. 

“You need to go! You have to leave him be! You aren’t in the right mind right now and you need to _go_!” Jaebeom yells in a loud booming voice, strained slightly by trying to hold back a struggling Jackson. 

“He’s dying and I’m going to be with him!” Yugyeom snaps. The fierce emotion in his voice makes Youngjae’s ears ring.

“Not unless you want to be the reason he dies!”

The yelling fades out again, slowly, until he falls into complete unconsciousness.

He doesn’t expect to be opening his eyes again to three curious faces looking down at him. Jaebeom’s perched on the edge of his bed, looking exhausted but with a lopsided smile. Jackson’s on the floor with an expression as if he’s seen a ghost. Yugyeom sits closest to him, and gives him a huge, bright smile and starts rubbing his back. 

“Hey, how do you feel?” Yugyeom asks softly.

Youngjae blinks. “I don’t know. Why am I on the floor?”

“You don’t feel any different?”

He considers that. He looks down at himself, and when he sees that shirt is soaked all the way through with blood, he screeches and startles himself. 

“You’re okay, babe… it’s okay.” He rubs the back of Youngjae’s hand with his thumb, and the sensation confuses him, because his hands don’t feel cold like they used to. They’re the same temperature as his. Youngjae looks up into his eyes as if he’ll find answers there.

“You remember anything?” Jaebeom asks with his gentle smile.

“No…” He looks around, confused, at the guys around him. “Wait, where’s Jinyoung? Is he okay?”

Yugyeom laughs. “Yeah, Jinyoung’s fine. Don’t worry.”

Suddenly, Jackson bursts out, “I’m sorry!”

“Why?” Youngjae asks, bewildered.

“I got too close to you and I bit you and drank from you,” he says, voice full of guilt. “And… I basically almost killed you.”

Youngjae’s mind begins putting the pieces together.

“I turned you,” Yugyeom tells him, finally just putting it out there. “I couldn’t bear to watch you die like that, so abruptly. And I didn’t want Jackson to have to live knowing he killed you. I’m sorry… I really wish that turning you could’ve been something that you agreed to, that I could’ve asked you, but you were too far gone by then…”

Jaebeom nods, letting out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, after he bit you it was taking a while for the venom to kick in. We were worrying you actually died and we were too late.”

“But you’re here,” Yugyeom says brightly. “I’m so glad…”

Youngjae feels all the emotions coming to their peak right now, in his heart. “Oh, Yugyeom, please don’t feel guilty. Please please don’t feel guilty.” 

Alarmed, Yugyeom asks, “Are you crying?”

He shakes his head despite the tears dripping down his cheeks. “I don’t want you to feel bad, Yug… I’m okay. Yeah, being a vampire isn’t the romance-novel it’s portrayed to be, but we’ll live.”

Jackson laughs at the irony of the statement, causing echoing laughter among the rest of them. The mood has been successfully lightened.

_So I’m a vampire now_ , Youngjae thinks, bring his hand up to feel the two bite-marks on the side of his neck. It trails down to his chest to check for the heartbeat that isn’t there. His ears ring from not being able to hear a heartbeat in his body… that’ll need some getting used to.

Jaebeom hands him a cup. “You should drink this. You’ll be thirsty soon.”

He reluctantly takes the cup, because he knows exactly what’s inside. This, Youngjae decides, will be the worst part of being a vampire. Having to drink blood. He expects that awful, iron smell to come, but it doesn’t. It has a surprisingly neutral scent, which is a huge shock to Youngjae’s mind. 

Jackson’s watching with a massive grin on his face, anticipating the first sip. Youngjae rolls his eyes and takes a cautious sip through the straw. 

When the blood hits his tongue, he’s surprised to find that it does not taste absolutely disgusting. His body isn’t rejecting it like it would if he were human. His eyes are as wide as the moon.

The expression makes everyone else laugh so hard, especially Jackson. “Damn, that’s probably what I looked like when I had my first taste of blood. It’s really a strange experience, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… I wasn’t expecting that…” 

“You’re so fucking adorable,” Yugyeom murmurs, all doe-eyed as he looks at Youngjae with the fondest face. His knees are brought up to his chest and he rests his chin there, his head tilted for ease. 

He realizes that perhaps his issue of growing older than Yugyeom is null now. It’s not anything they’ve got to dwell on any longer. They never even pulled a Twilight and agreed to turn him for the sake of the relationship. He was turned for the opportunity at life. 

“Okay, but wait- where is Jinyoung?” Youngjae asks, suddenly brought to the real world.

“He’s at your apartment,” Jaebeom informs him, smiling suddenly. “I never told him Yugyeom turned you. I just had him leave while we figured out the conflict with Jackson… I should probably let him know. So he doesn’t try and come back in here again.”

“He should probably stay living there, for a couple of weeks,” Yugyeom suggests. “While Youngjae and Jackson adjust here.”

He nods. “Good idea. We’ll see if he agrees.” He stands up and brushes his clothes off. “Well. Welcome to the vampire apartment, Youngjae… you should probably hug Jackson before he explodes from just sitting there.”

He meets Jackson’s bright gaze, and the spark in his heart has him leaning forward into Jackson’s eager arms. They hug with enthusiasm since there is no danger now. 

“I’ve wanted to hug you ever since the accident,” Youngjae says, not letting Jackson pull away. “Let me have this.”

This is a new era for Youngjae. His human life is behind him now. He got a bit too mixed up with vampires, considering that is what ultimately killed him. But now, he’s got a life indefinitely ahead of him of not sleeping and drinking blood. 

He walks around the apartment, sad that he’ll never be able to use their kitchen again, but he supposes some sacrifices have to be made. 

Jaebeom walks in, looking like he was in the middle of laughing. “I talked to Jinyoung. He’s very amused that he’s the only human in our friend group now. He said something like ‘I’m like a cockroach, you can’t kill me.’”

“Jinyoung’s special,” Yugyeom says, entertained. “I can see how he captured your heart.”

“Yeah, I wonder how quickly he’d kill me if I started calling him ‘cockroach’ as a nickname.”

“You’d be dead in seconds.”

Jaebeom’s phone buzzes, so he glances at the screen. “Ah, it’s Mark asking how Jackson’s warming up to the humans. Ha ha. Guess I have to call him and tell him what his boyfriend did.”

“Hey!” Jackson protests, but there’s no hostility and he seems to have mostly gotten over the fact that he almost killed Youngjae, considering that it was just an accident, and he’s alive now, so there’s nothing to be upset over.

“Put it on speaker!” Yugyeom encourages. He loves to fuel the flames of chaos, and Youngjae enjoys that about him.

“Hey Mark,” Jaebeom greets when Mark picks up the phone. 

“Hey, what’s up? Did you see my texts?”

Jaebeom looks nervous, yet he’s still laughing. “Yeah, uh, about that…”

“... Jaebeom.”

“There may have been an accident-”

“Jaebeom what the hell happened?”

He pauses, then lets out another airy laugh. “Jackson attacked Youngjae and he kind of had a near death experience.”

“Fuck, Jaebeom, why weren’t you watching him?”

“I wasn’t thinking, okay? But it’s fine now… Yugyeom may have turned him and he may be a vampire now…”

Mark’s long sigh makes everyone in the room laugh. “First Jackson, now Youngjae? You two are biting people like crazy.”

Jaebeom rolls his eyes. “Jackson’s incident fed into Youngjae’s incident. It was just a domino effect. That we’ll hopefully end here.”

“Please look after your boyfriend so he’s not the next victim,” Mark says dryly. “Please.”

“He’ll be fine, he’s going to be living away from us. Perfectly safe.”

Yugyeom calls out, “Jaebeom’s always protective of him, anyway, so if he thinks Jinyoung is safe, he is _very_ safe.”

“Wait, Yugyeom… am I on speaker?”

Yugyeom panic-hits “end call” and Jaebeom glares at him. “Smooth,” he mutters.

Youngjae’s first night as a vampire is rather eventful. The whole apartment’s awake the entire time, so there’s always something he could be doing. Playing video games with Jackson, cuddling with Yugyeom, the list goes on. Yugyeom invites him on a walk into town but Jackson reminds him that it’s his first night and he should not be going where all the humans are.

“He’s going to get restless though,” Yugyeom claims, pouting. “His first night as a vampire shouldn’t be boring.”

Jackson gives him a look. “Well, then make it not boring. You’re his boyfriend, there’s plenty of things you two could do.”

“Jackson!” Youngjae exclaims, scandalized. 

“I don’t think you want to be in the house for that,” Yugyeom says bluntly.

Jaebeom comes in through the front door, interrupting their “conversation.” Youngjae glances at the clock- it’s four in the morning.

“Where were you?” Yugyeom questions. 

“Jinyoung and I were finishing the series we’re watching,” he says contentedly as he walks over to sit down with them. “I still find it cute how stupid he can be, sometimes. He insists on staying up late and watching things with me even though he hates being tired in the morning.”

Youngjae smiles sweetly. “He just likes your company, Jaebeom.”

“He must like you, if he’s sacrificing his sleep to talk to you,” Jackson points out. He says it in such a “relationship advice expert” way that is amusing to Youngjae, considering he hasn’t actually dated that much.

Jaebeom nods, looking at the floor with a dreamy look in his eyes. “He’s been really sweet lately. Hugging me from behind while I’m washing clothes, leaving me notes in the bag I take to work… I also think he just really wants me to kiss him.”

“You’ve never kissed him?” Yugyeom gasps dramatically.

“No, our lives have been a little chaotic recently. There’s never been a good moment,” Jaebeom says in his defense. “It’s not like I’m actively trying to avoid it. It’ll happen when it happens.”

Youngjae quite likes this little group of friends he’s formed over the past several months. The routine of being between his apartment and Yugyeom’s is something he’s gotten used to. Truthfully, he is glad that Yugyeom and Jaebeom moved in down the hall.

It’s a month later when Jaebeom decides that Youngjae and Jackson have enough control for Jinyoung to be around (although they are firmly told not to come within six feet of him and Jinyoung is instructed to not hurt himself). Their control is enough for supervision, but it may not be reliable for many more months. Even Yugyeom hadn’t been confident when he was a year old vampire.

He, Yugyeom, and Jackson are all laying on each other on one sofa and Jaebeom and Jinyoung are sitting together on the other. They’re binge watching movie series together, a habit they’ve all been very fond of. It’s their bonding time.

It’s a comfortable day, Youngjae decides. There’s a linen-scented candle on the coffee table, and Yugyeom’s and Jackson’s touches are pleasant. Jaebeom and Jinyoung are chatting quietly, just the two of them, their voices are soothing to hear.

There’s a period in which it’s very quiet, in which Jaebeom and Jinyoung have stopped talking. But Youngjae listens as Jinyoung shifts in his seat, turning to look up at Jaebeom, and says, “Jaebeom, I want you to turn me.”

Jaebeom, who had been sipping from his bottle, nearly spits out the blood in his mouth (luckily, for the sake of his furniture, he does not). He swallows it and then asks, bewildered, “What?” Even Yugyeom’s and Jackson’s attentions have been piqued.

The boy’s expression is soft. “I don’t have anything to lose, you know. My family doesn’t speak to me. Everyone here in this room means more to me than my family…”

“Jinyoung-”

“I’ve thought about it a lot. About my underwhelming childhood and my parents cutting off contact with me when I went to college. I feel like, at twenty-six years old, there’s not much I’ve done. I want to be with my friends and explore my hobbies and feel loved to someone-”

“Jin-”

“And that’s not going to happen if I’m a human that’ll have to spend the rest of my twenties living alone, working a 9 to 5 job, dating some guy that hardly cares about me but I’ll have to marry if I want someone to keep me company when I’m old,” Jinyoung says, his tone quiet but full of depth. “I’m not going to force you to turn me if you really disagree that much, but I ask that you consider it.”

Jaebeom blinks, so many thoughts going through his head all at once. It can be seen in his eyes. “You really want that? You’ve thought about it?”

“Yes. I’m not going full Bella Swan and asking this specifically so that I can date you, I… I just feel like it’ll give me a chance at a better life,” Jinyoung confesses. “I’ve felt the most alive I’ve ever been in the last couple months. With you all. And Jaebeom, I’m twenty-six.”

He’s silent for a couple moments, tracing the back of Jinyoung’s hand with his thumb as he thinks. “You won’t be able to take it back.”

“I know.”

Youngjae, Yugyeom, and Jackson are all frozen in anticipation of Jaebeom’s answer. The two probably don’t even realize the others are there.

Jaebeom looks Jinyoung up and down, from his eyes, to his lips, to his hands. After a few long moments, he meets Jinyoung’s gaze again. “Okay. If it’s what you really want. I’ll do it.”

Jinyoung’s got the warmest smile on his face and Youngjae swears Jaebeom is about to kiss him before Yugyeom starts yelling.

“So cute~” he squeals. He and Jackson are practically vibrating with excitement. In any other situation, becoming a vampire would be upsetting and traumatic, but Jinyoung’s got a different case. And the others would be glad to have him with them.

“Are you going to do it right now?!” Jackson exclaims. 

Jaebeom shakes his head. “No, of course not right now.” He glances at Jinyoung. “I think he should go out one more time as a human and enjoy human things.”

“You going to buy me food?” he teases.

“Yep. None of us got to choose what our last meal would be, so you’re lucky you’ve got that choice,” Jaebeom jokes. “The last thing I ate was cauliflower. So.”

Jinyoung laughs, his eye-whiskers appearing. “Fun.”

Yugyeom gives Jinyoung a huge, lopsided smile. “Jinyoung, you’re going to have such an easy transition to vampire. Jaebeom’s really going to take good care of you. I’m jealous~”

“Hey, I raised you too!” Jaebeom says defensively.

“Yeah but I wasn’t your human boyfriend.”

Jaebeom rolls his eyes. “I treated you the same way I’ll be treating Jinyoung. If anything, I was more careful with you. First child syndrome.”

“Good.”

Conversation devolves to light-hearted bickering. Meanwhile, Youngjae thinks about how Jinyoung might be happier as a vampire, freed from the expectations of the late-twenties and surrounded by people that actually care about him. It’s a pleasant thought that he could be happier like this. 

The night before Jinyoung’s scheduled turning, the group of them all go out together and Jinyoung gets to eat from his favorite restaurant, and afterwards, ice cream. The boy doesn’t seem at all nervous for becoming a vampire the next day. He’s probably long-embraced the idea so much that going through with it relaxes him.

Their last stop is a scenic park where the energetic ones (namely Yugyeom and Jackson) can run around and be idiots while Jinyoung and Jaebeom walk around. Youngjae sits on a bench and watches Yugyeom chase Jackson up a tree (Youngjae is concerned he’ll fall off a branch until he remembers his bones can’t be broken like that).

The night air is refreshing and Youngjae feels at ease. At the beginning of being a vampire, he was nervous that he’d miss being a human. But really, in moments like these he can see that the human experience is universal. Sometimes it’s just making memories with people you love and taking in what’s around you on this planet.

He spots Jinyoung and Jaebeom out of the corner of his eye, a couple feet away and out of sight of the other two. They’re overlooking a small lake together.

“Thank you, Jaebeom,” he says quietly. “You’ve done a lot for me and I am really grateful.”

“Don’t talk like you’re dying. You’ll still be alive in all areas that we’re concerned about,” Jaebeom jokes in a light voice.

Jinyoung lets out a small laugh. “I just wanted to thank you because I feel like it’s kind of crazy that you witnessed my hit and run and then protected me for several weeks at no benefit to yourself. Just out of kindness… I know I gave you shit in the beginning but you’ve really got a sweet heart, Jaebeom.”

“I just can’t stand to see souls suffering. I think it’s a human thing, it doesn’t make me special,” he murmurs. “You deserved protection and I found that out after taking you in. I would do it again if I had to. After all, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have my Jinyoungie, would I?”

Jinyoung blushes and looks away. A second later, he turns back to him, fully meeting his gaze, and says, softly, “I have one more request before I’m a vampire.”

He raises an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Kiss me.”

The corners of Jaebeom’s lips turn upward and his expression softens. He shifts his weight so that he’s standing straight, and guides Jinyoung closer to him, smiling warmly the entire time.

He places a hand on Jinyoung’s jaw, gently. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he whispers, seconds before leaning in, closing the gap, and kissing him. Jinyoung’s smiling into the kiss as his hands settle themselves on Jaebeom’s broad shoulders.

Jinyoung got his last human wish.

The next day, the apartment is strangely calm. Mark and Bambam are even visiting for the event of Jinyoung’s turning.

“Am I really going to bite him with everybody watching?” Jaebeom says dryly.

“Just don’t make it too intimate,” Yugyeom responds, grinning. He and all the others look immensely excited for Jinyoung’s transition, in a happy way. Since, after all, this was something he asked for instead of something he was forced into.

Jinyoung’s sitting in a chair so that he doesn’t fall over in the process, as Jaebeom had earlier explained. He’s looking up at Jaebeom with sparkling eyes. “Are you ready?” he asks him.

“Why are you asking me?” Jaebeom says, chuckling. “You’re the one commiting yourself to living forever.”

“ _I’m_ ready, _you_ look nervous.”

“Yeah, well, everyone’s watching me, plus, you’re the one I’m turning. I want it to be as pain-free as possible for you.”

“Just get it over with then,” Jinyoung says, tilting his head so his neck is in view.

Jaebeom takes a deep breath, glancing at the others in the room before he looks back at Jinyoung. “Okay. You’re going to feel a pinch because I’ll be breaking the skin, but after that you should go unconscious. You’ll probably be awake in seconds because you aren’t already dying,” he describes. “Okay?”

“Okay,” he confirms, holding out his palm. “Hold my hand, please.”

Jaebeom takes it without question and Yugyeom and Jackson let out an “aww” that Jaebeom would probably scold them for if it weren’t for the situation at hand.

Finally, Youngjae watches with a little smile as Jaebeom leans over Jinyoung, slowly. Jinyoung doesn’t protest or panic, he just grips Jaebeom’s hand a little tighter. Then, Jaebeom’s fangs sink into Jinyoung’s neck.

“This is so exciting! Like a drama!” Yugyeom squeals, and Youngjae bats at his arm. 

“Shh,” he hushes him. “Let them have their moment.”

“Turning you was much less calm. I was kind of panicking the entire time,” he informs him. “Jinyoung is privileged.”

When Jaebeom pulls away, Jinyoung is still not conscious, but Youngjae notices the subtle paling of his skin, just as he had seen up-close with Jackson. Jaebeom watches nervously. 

Bambam cranes his neck. “Is he awake yet?”

At that moment, his eyes flutter open, and Jaebeom can finally smile. “Hey. It worked. You weren’t in pain, were you?”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “No, you dumbass. But thank you for the concern.” He sits up and kisses him on the cheek. “I feel great. Dead inside, but great.”

It’s an interesting experience, really, watching as Jinyoung slowly transitions to the life of a vampire: most of it involves annoying Jaebeom at all hours of the day but Jaebeom seems to enjoy it because he’s whipped for his boyfriend. 

Plus, a few months later, Mark finally feels comfortable enough to take Jackson around large groups of humans, so they finally get to go on that trip to China that they had scheduled before the accident. It makes Youngjae feel a little bit better that Jackson can’t really get hurt this time. 

Looking out the window, Youngjae takes a moment to reflect on his life thus far, how everything has changed so quickly. He went from being an ordinary college student to a human that’s in love with a vampire that acts nothing like a vampire, to a vampire himself after a near death experience involving his best friend.

Who could’ve guessed?

Youngjae decides that he loves his un-intimidating vampire boyfriend and the whole experience that came with meeting him, even if his own life was stripped from him in the process.

_Life’s a scam. You live to die so you may as well live forever, right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it!! I know the ending is a bit of a cliché but I think it's fitting, lol. 
> 
> Leave comments and let me know what you think! :)

**Author's Note:**

> part two is already written, I just have to revise it and it'll be up soon :) 
> 
> feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think!


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